Ben Whishaw reveals he had therapy to help him come to terms with his sexuality

24th March 2019

BBC

The actor also opened about how he “hated” himself because of his sexuality.

Ben Whishaw has revealed in an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine that he went to therapy sessions to help him come to terms with his sexuality.

“I don’t think it’s the be-all and end-all, and since revealing my sexuality I haven’t had any negative effects,” he said. But he added that he had initially struggled with his sexuality in his early twenties.

“There was a moment in my early twenties when I did not feel very good about myself,” he said. “It was to do with my sexuality and not knowing how to be myself and hating myself. I did know [my sexuality], I just couldn’t tell anyone.”

Although Whishaw didn’t go in-depth about what happened in the therapy sessions, he added: “It really did help.”

Whishaw also briefly spoke about bi-erasure, the dismissal of bisexuality, saying: “I think it’s very unfair when people say they’re bisexual and they’re accused of being gay really.

“If we’re honest about these things, perhaps most people are on a spectrum.”

Earlier this year, after Darren Criss announced he would no longer play LGBTQ roles so that gay actors weren’t looked over, Whishaw weighed into the debate.

Addressing Criss’s announcement, he said: “I don’t think that should happen because I really believe that actors can embody and portray anything and we shouldn’t be defined only by what we are.”

He then called for more gay actors in straight roles, saying: “I would like to see more gay actors playing straight roles. It needs to be an even playing field for everybody that would be my ideal. I don’t know how far we’re away from that [but] that’s where we should be aiming.”