Andrew Rannells: “No one cared that I’m gay”

I seem to get into a lot of discussions at cocktail parties with people – gay and straight – about whether famous actors can come out of the closet and still have a successful career.

Here’s what I’ve found myself saying lately: “They can if they have the talent.”

That’s what we’ve seen with Neil Patrick Harris, with Matt Bomer, with Zachary Quinto and a growing list of others.

Then there’s Andrew Rannells who’s been out since the start of his career.

It’s working out pretty damned well so far: A Tony Award nomination for lead actor in a musical for The Book of Mormon, a role in the hit HBO series Girls, and one of the stars of the upcoming NBC sitcom The New Normal.

He plays a gay man in all of these shows.

‘I came to New York and had a fresh start with college. I was gay and that’s what I presented to a new group of people as I moved here,’ Rannells tells The Advocate in an interview posted Tuesday (10 July). ‘I continue to be so fortunate, particularly in the past year. It could have been an issue in The Book of Mormon,but it was never brought up. No one cared that I’m gay.’

To read more about this and to see a scene from Normal, go to Gay Star News.