Jim Parsons tackles new projects after The Big Bang Theory as he reveals his struggle with growing up gay: 'The sight of pride parades frightened me'
Jim Parsons recently wrapped The Big Bang Theory after playing Sheldon Cooper for 12 years.
But the actor is't resting on his laurels as he has a slew of projects scheduled including a Netflix adaptation of the drama The Boys in the Band.
And the 48-year-old opened up about his youth and the fear of being discovered as gay while growing up in Houston in an interview with Variety on Wednesday.
'The sight of pride parades frightened me, because I knew that there were plenty of people around me — whether they were in my life or I just was aware of them — that derided this show of pride,' he explained.
The struggle: Jim Parsons, 48, opened up about his youth and the fear of being discovered as gay while growing up in Houston in an interview on Wednesday; (pictured May)
Even later in his adulthood when he moved to New York, Parsons tried to ignore that part of his life by bypassing gay-friendly neighborhoods.
'My only feelings were, I’m going to avoid that area of town because I don’t like crowds.'
Share this article
Eventually, Parsons came out of the closet to his family after meeting his now-husband, Todd Spiewak.
Prideful: 'The sight of pride parades frightened me, because I knew that there were plenty of people around me — whether they were in my life or I just was aware of them — that derided this show of pride,' he explained; (pictured May)
A bit more settled: Eventually, Parsons came out of the closet to his family after meeting his now-husband, Todd Spiewak; (pictured June)
'No offense to the lovely men I dated before Todd, but somewhere deep inside, I immediately knew that there was no choice left but to deal with this, because to not let them in on this person I had met was to officially start putting up these lifelong barriers,' he detailed.
In 2012, he came out publicly after performing in The Normal Heart - a play about gay friends exposing the truth about the growing AIDs crisis in the 1980s.
Now the bi-coastal actor embraces his sexuality wholeheartedly.
It's a wrap! He wrapped The Big Bang Theory after playing Sheldon Cooper for 12 years
'Once it was out in the public, I was like, ‘Well, f— you! If you still have a problem with gay people, you directly have a problem with me. Being a full-fledged member of it and claiming it, there was just an elation there, and there still is!
'I still feel it. It’s a huge relief, and it’s also really nice to sometimes be able to feel righteous anger,' he said.
And Parsons - with a weight lifted - can focus on life after The Big Bang Theory as he continues to work in Hollywood... even producing the comedic Netflix series Special about the life of a gay man with cerebral palsy.
Focus: And Parsons - with a weight lifted - can focus on life after The Big Bang Theory as he prepares for the Netflix adaptation of The Boys In The Band (Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, and Jim pictured 2018)
