Matt Bomer Attributes His Successful Acting Career To The Years He Spent In The Closet: 'It Was A Ruse Just To Survive'

Opening up.
For candid chat with OUT Magazine, Matt Bomer spoke about the struggles he faced being a closeted young adult in “Bible Belt Texas.” We can only imagine how confusing that environment must’ve been.
Related: Ellen Celebrates The 20th Anniversary Of Her Coming Out Episode
The White Collar alum shared:

“One of the ways I learned how to act, really, is by having secrets, and having to function as a kid in a public school in suburban Bible Belt Texas. Subsequently I worked on a gas pipeline with my brother for a while ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ there were ex-cons with us. It was not an environment where it was safe to be gay.”

We bet. He added:

“I did learn how to protect myself ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ it was literally acting of the highest stakes. I had my brother to protect me, but as terrible as it may sound, it was a way I learned to select behavior and make choices, even if it was a ruse just to survive, you know?”

Eventually, Matt did come out to his parents, but it wasn’t an easy task. The Magic Mike hottie noted:

“Telling your family is a huge, huge deal. I really view my life as divided between the time before I told my parents, and the time after. And the decisions I made, and the life I lived, before and after, are vastly different. It’s night and day.”

According to the 39-year-old, he first realized he was gay when performing in shows through the Utah Shakespeare Festival. In fact, Bomer was dating a girl at the time of his revelation. However, after the industry vet was inspired to come out by a hair and makeup artist at the theatre festival, the father-of-three revealed:

“I thought, ‘If this person can live their truth, what am I doing?’… I would have lost my sense of direction if I tried to do it in person.”

Unsurprisingly, Matt’s conservative Christian parents didn’t take to his coming out well as there “was radio silence” between them “for a long, long time, at least six months.” So sad.
Nonetheless, it was a huge “blowup” which led to his parents finally accepting his sexuality. He dished:

“We got that out of the way, and we got down to the business of figuring out how to love each other. I would say within a matter of years we started to figure it out. It was a struggle. It’s a struggle for anybody to take their paradigms and set of beliefs and understandings and completely flip the script.”

These days, Matt’s mother acknowledges his husband Simon and their three children. Mrs. Bomer even invited the happy couple to speak to her women’s group in Houston. Awwwww.
See folks, it does get better!
[Image via OUT Magazine.]