‘The Big Bang Theory’ Jim Parsons Celebrates Gay Roles, But Doesn’t Want To Limit It

The New York Times

Ten years ago, actor Jim Parsons, who was at the height of success for a comedy series that would take him to the top of Forbes magazine’s ranking of the highest paid actors on television, casually declared to The New York Times that he was gay, and was involved in a long-term relationship. He remembers not wanting his sexual orientation to become the dominant concern for him from 2012 onwards.

Now, after recently wrapping up an off-Broadway run of the musical “A Man of No Importance,” he’s starring in the romantic drama “Spoiler Alert” (out in US theaters), which he also co-produced. In both productions, he plays gay characters, and Parsons says he wouldn’t trade the work he’s been doing for anything.

“Right after that article came out, I felt something I hadn’t felt before: that being part of a group gave me power,” Parsons, 49, said in a recent video chat. The actor added that he was happy not to be limited to just playing gay roles, even if new work involving gay characters is offered to him.

“It turned into a beautiful opportunity to get to know myself,” he said. “I don’t mean to say that I feel completely satisfied or that there aren’t many other things I still want to do, but really, there’s no way I can feel much happier, or more fulfilled, than I do right now.”

Parsons links this feeling of catharsis to an enduring search for love and acceptance. Growing up gay in suburban Houston, the actor said, meant he spent the first two decades of his life with a “very real understanding that love wasn’t going to be accessible” in certain quarters of his life. Even after years of success in his career, he still considers himself in the midst of a journey to come to terms with the feeling that it is “overwhelming, and somewhat difficult, to accept so much love from so many people at the same time”.

He said his recent projects are a reflection of that journey. “It’s kind of funny because a lot of them I didn’t even choose,” said the actor. “But the opportunity to discover these things about myself, and about other human beings as part of the process, feels like a gift.”

“Spoiler Alert” is an adaptation of a memoir by television journalist Michael Ausiello, which recounts the situation the couple had to face when her husband, Kit Cowan, was diagnosed with cancer, and the difficult road it forced them to take. . This offered Parsons an “open vein” of emotions that piqued his interest because of his enduring fascination with the issue of mortality, something he said was reinforced by the death of his father in a car accident in 2001, and the loss of your dog, years later.

“Both experiences were very painful, but they gave me a vision of how precious my time is in the world, something I had not experienced before, and now I will see my life forever through that lens of having loved, and having lost. what I loved. The thing that really struck me about the book was the story of two people who have the opportunity, tragic but also unique and rare, to bare their souls, or the closest imaginable similar to that experience. their hearts as to the risks that must be taken if you want to live and love fully.”

Parsons and Ausiello had some contact at red carpet and press events during the 12 seasons of “The Big Bang Theory”, of which the journalist has always been a declared fan, but it was only when he asked Parsons to present a promotional interview of his book, in 2018, that the actor learned about Ausiello’s story.

“I remember scrolling through Michael’s Instagram account after reading the book, and seeing a picture that showed us together at the Emmys,” Parsons said. “I saw the date on the photo and realized he was going through all that when we took it, and I had no idea. I didn’t know Kit, I didn’t know he was sick, and I wasn’t even close enough to Michael to know, but still , that was a feeling I couldn’t get away from.”

Parsons identified with the commonalities between Ausiello and Cowan’s partnership and his relationship with her husband and partner at the production company they run, Todd Spiewak.

Ausiello told me over the phone that the pace of Parsons’ humor has always appealed to him, on and off screen, and the same is true of his surprising career choices, such as playing a supporting role in “Hanging Stars,” a film 2016, after winning four Emmys as best comedy actor for “The Big Bang Theory”.

“We had an interesting relationship, and our interviews were always very acidic and playful,” said Ausiello. “I’ve always enjoyed interviewing him because I knew it would be a fun experience; he had an answer to everything I said, and his timing was impeccable.”

When the event to promote Ausiello’s book arrived, the roles of the two would be reversed: Parsons would ask the questions. “He arrived at the Barnes & Noble store with pages and pages of notes — he’s done his homework,” Ausiello said. “It was backstage, before we said goodbye, that Todd mentioned that they were interested in acquiring an option on my book; it was the first time the subject had been mentioned, and I was completely taken aback.”

For Parsons, the film was the most involved he has ever had with any of his projects. Though he wasn’t deeply involved in the financial discussions, Parsons played a central role in the production, even selecting English actor Ben Aldridge’s dialogue instructor — choosing the teacher who coached him on accents when the actor attended the University of San Diego.

In recent years, Parsons has been taking the reins more frequently through the production company he and Spiewak created in 2015, as well as accepting more lead roles in a variety of productions. In December, he finished the run of a revival of “A Man of No Importance” by the Classic Stage Company. The show revolves around the efforts of a gay man who has yet to come out of the closet to lead a theater company. Jesse Green, critic of The New York Times, described Parsons’ performance this way: “With his confident voice, smooth face and television perfectionism, he never seems hopeless or, seen from the perspective of our time, too old for a new beginning”.

His previous stage stint, in the 2018 Broadway revival of “The Boys in the Band” (a film adaptation was filmed in 2020), saw him working with Matt Bomer, who was also a hit on television before coming out. out as gay in 2012. In a phone interview, Bomer explained that by the time he met Parsons, Parsons was already a “legend” on the Houston suburban high school theater circuit (although born a few years apart, the two grew up in Spring, Texas).

He said he came to respect Parsons’ leadership and “his fearless approach to the character” during the revival, in which Bomer played one of the lead roles, that of a not-so-nice guy.

“Jim achieved the kind of television success that happens once in a generation, and he could have done whatever he wanted after that,” Bomer said. “He’s translated that freedom of choice into really thoughtful designs and performances, and he’s taken creative responsibility for a lot of really interesting projects that I really respect.”

Three years after leaving behind the role of Sheldon Cooper, which made him famous, Parsons is not sure that his new film and the musical he recently ended point to a new phase in his career as a leading man, different from the more collective works by which he is so well known.

“Both jobs required constant and intense communication with my partners, and I like having a lot to do,” said the actor. “It’s much easier, when I have one of the main roles, because I’m constantly needed on set or on stage; it’s better than having a lot of free time, and getting lost in my thoughts. Because I always find something else to do, I swear, and that’s not as healthy as just doing the work and that’s it.”