Is Eric McCormack Gay? Pl More About the Will & Grace Star

Contents:

• 'I WOULDN'T GET THIS ROLE TODAY': WILL & GRACE'S STRAIGHT 'GAY' STAR
• ‘WILL & GRACE’ FANS ARE STILL UNSURE IF ERIC MCCORMACK IS GAY REAL LIFE
• WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY
• WILL & GRACE BROKE GROUND FOR GAY REPRENTATN—CAN IT DO IT AGA?
• ‘WILL & GRACE’ IS BACK. WILL ITS PORTRA OF GAY LIFE HOLD UP?

'I WOULDN'T GET THIS ROLE TODAY': WILL & GRACE'S STRAIGHT 'GAY' STAR

Everyone remembers the basics: bt iends Will, a gay man, and Grace, a straight woman, live and love Manhattan wh their quirkier iends Jack and Karen. Actor Sean Hay, who portrayed openly gay character Jack on Will & Grace, didn't e out real life until five years after the show end.

More recently, Hay has revealed that he's "ashamed and embarrassed" he stayed the closet for so long when he might have ma a difference young gay people's liv by g out sooner. Fellow executive producer David Kohan and producer-director Jam Burrows agreed, notg that the show had troduced and normalized gay people for a swath of the public.

If Will & Grace were beg st for the first time today, Eric McCormack nces, "I probably wouldn't get anywhere near this role"'s bee McCormack is straight, and this era of diversy and thenticy stg would be a bold, perhaps even foolish, cisn to st anyone but a gay actor a seri that puts the character's sexualy ont and he'd be out of a job this hypothetil scenar, the first "gay" man many middle Amerins weled to their hom is OK wh that. "I thk wasn't a terrible thg 1998 that a straight guy played the role, but I'm glad that tim are changg, and I'm glad that nowadays a Will Tman would probably be st wh someone who is gay, " he says. "The show has given me a chance to give back, " he says, cg some recent gay-related chary events at which he has appeared.

‘WILL & GRACE’ FANS ARE STILL UNSURE IF ERIC MCCORMACK IS GAY REAL LIFE

The ensemble edy seri featured two gay characters—lawyer Will Tman (Eric McCormack) and aspirg actor Jack McFarland (Sean Hay)—and their bt iends, terr signer Grace Adler (Debra Msg) and eccentric sociale Karen Walker (Megan Mullally), whose fun-filled antics were enjoyed by lns of viewers for eight seasons on NBC. Kohan was a mutual iend who watched their relatnship change and mature over the only relatnship NBC executive Warren Ltlefield was terted , however, was the one wh the gay man livg wh the straight woman. When Mutchnick and Kohan wrote the pilot, they jt foced on the Will and Grace two creators named the show Will & Grace based on a ncept the Jewish philosophy book I and Thou by Mart Buber, which he says that one needs the "will" to go after the prence of the Eternal and the "grace" to receive wag to hear about the fate of their show after submtg their pilot script, the two men sent Warren Ltlefield fax listg the box office numbers of The Birdge and My Bt Friend’s Weddg, two h movi featurg gay Hay was at the Sundance Film Ftival Park Cy, Utah when a work stg executive faxed him the pilot script for Will & Grace after seeg him Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss.

'" The next day, she agreed to take the Barrowman, who is gay, said he was told by Will & Grace producers that he was ‘too straight’ to play Will. ” In 2014, The Smhsonian Instute add ems om Will & Grace as part of their llectn documentg the history of gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr dividuals.

Beg the first show to feature two promently gay characters, the seri foced on the liv of the ma st and how they navigated their reers and relatnships. The album featured gay classics like “I Will Survive, ” and songs by gut stars of the show like Cher’s “Gypsi, Tramps and Thiev. Oddly enough, the producers believed Barrowman was "too straight" to play the character and thought McCormack was more nvcg as a gay man.

WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY

To this day, "Will & Grace" is still nsired "one of the most succsful televisns seri wh gay prcipal characters" acrdg to the show's Wikipedia page. In an terview wh Gay Star News, Hay revealed that an attempt to lm the star's nerv durg a table readg of the script, he started "praisg her" to which she sarstilly rpond "Thank you.

WILL & GRACE BROKE GROUND FOR GAY REPRENTATN—CAN IT DO IT AGA?

" Fearg for his safety, Hayn remaed quiet about his personal life until 2010 when he publicly me out as homosexual. Durg the terview, host Megyn Kelly asked Turner "is te that you beme a lawyer-- and you beme gay-- bee of Will?

" The crge-worthy moment only worsened when after awardg Turner wh tickets to see a live-tapg of the show, Kelly stated she was unsure of Turner's journey toward a law gree but believed "the 'Will & Grace' thg and the gay thg is gog to work out great!

‘WILL & GRACE’ IS BACK. WILL ITS PORTRA OF GAY LIFE HOLD UP?

In an terview wh Oprah, Sean Hay revealed his favore celebry meo was Matt Damon as Owen, a straight man tryg to sneak his way to the New York Gay Men's Chos and beat Jack out of the top spot.

In fact, when the show was first pched, the ia was that would revolve around three sets of upl, one of whom was a gay man and a straight woman who lived together. Like Will and Grace, Max and Ja were an em their younger years, only for him to e out as gay when they were both at universy.

A lot of actors were the nng for the tle charactersAmong them, apparently, were John Barrowman, who claimed he was turned down for the role for not beg gay enough. Several big nam appeared on the show before they land their biggt TV rolNeil Patrick Harris and Sean Hay Will & GraceNBC via Getty ImagYears before How I Met Your Mother me along, Neil Patrick Harris appeared as an “ex-gay” Will & Grace, while a pre-Grey’s Anatomy Patrick Dempsie played a love tert of Will’s an early season.