Tom Hollander discusses his sexuality after playing gay in The White Lotus and Feud
"I have been asked to play several gay characters over the years. People keep asking me to do it because apparently when I play these characters, it’s believable"
Tom Hollander has discussed his sexuality in a new interview, saying his life has “encompassed many different experiences.”
The actor famously played the well-dressed gay criminal Quentin in season two of The White Lotus in 2022.
He’ll play gay again in Ryan Murphy’s upcoming Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, in which he portrays author Truman Capote.
“My own sexuality is sufficiently liberal to have encompassed many different experiences” – Tom Hollander
Speaking to Vanity Fair this week, the 56-year-old said: “I have been asked to play several gay characters over the years. […] People keep asking me to do it because apparently when I play these characters, it’s believable. And that’s, in a way, where my job begins and ends.”
The star went on: “For some reason, who I am, who I am as a person allows me to present as gay. Yeah, sometimes I do present as gay. […] I’m somebody that walks into a room and there are some people who walk into the room, you go, ‘Well, they’re not gay,’ and, ‘They are gay.’ My own sexuality is sufficiently liberal to have encompassed many different experiences, which are not anyone’s business.”
“I certainly have not lived the life that gay men used to have to live,” he added. “I’ve not lived that difficulty. I’ve not had to live in the shadows and been under the threat of going to jail for expressing my sexuality.”
Other real-life gay men Hollander has played include diplomat Guy Burgess, as well Bosie Douglas, lover of Oscar Wilde.
In his interview. Hollander also touched on the debate around straight actors playing gay roles. The star opined that “what shouldn’t be sacrificed is the sort of basic fundamental principle of actors being able to play things that they are not necessarily, because then that’s not art.”
Hollander’s other screen credits include Bird Box and Absolutely Fabulous. Find out more about Hollander’s role in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans here.