Sean Hayes regrets not coming out sooner for the realest and most inspiring reason
Sean Hayes will live forever in our hearts as the delightfully silly Jack from the incredible sitcom Will & Grace. He made us laugh and cry, and then laugh harder at his hilarious Cher impression. Sean Hayes was honored on Sunday at Outfest’s Legacy Awards, along with Jill Soloway and Freeform. Sean was of course honored, but he took his moment as he accepted his award to apologize that he hadn’t come out sooner. Sean came out in 2010, which was several years after Will & Grace ended in 2006.
In his speech, Sean Hayes was responding to a flattering quote from Outfest Executive Director, Christopher Racster.
Christopher Racster said, “Sean Hayes’ portrayal of Jack on NBC’s Will & Grace took the stereotypical gay sissy and made him human, lovable, flawed and real. … Jack lived in a land where it was ok to simply be Jack — open, honest, funny, and real.”
We totally agree with Christopher’s words. Sean accomplished a very difficult thing by making a character who might otherwise be a stereotype into a real person that we as an audience cared about.
But Sean says that he wished that Christopher had listed “flawed” first, because that’s how he feels when accepting awards like this, because he wishes he had come out sooner.
In his speech, Sean said, “I know I should’ve come out sooner and I’m sorry for that. Especially when I think about the possibility that I might have made a difference in someone’s life. I would probably be able to sleep a lot better than I do if I had acted sooner, but such is life. We learn our lessons only when we are ready.”
That’s a beautiful reason for Sean to regret holding off on coming out, because it is so inspiring for young people to see stars they admire celebrating who they are. But we hope that Sean isn’t beating himself up too much about it, because we think that just his humility and awareness is incredibly inspirational.
We too are so grateful to him for being so open, honest, funny, and real.
The post Sean Hayes regrets not coming out sooner for the realest and most inspiring reason appeared first on HelloGiggles.
