Wentworth Miller: ‘I thought it was my job to act straight’

Wentworth Miller has revealed that he felt he had to act “straight” while starring on Prison Break.

The 42-year-old actor came out last year, when he wrote an open letter rejecting an invitation to a Russian film festival in protest against the country’s anti-gay laws.

In a new interview with Details, Miller said he feels “more fully expressed” since coming out.

Recalling life before he came out, Miller said: “I came to grips with the fact that my public persona was in misalignment with how I actually felt. I was out to a handful of people in my twenties, and once I hit 30, I was out to family and friends.”

“But professionally, I was feeding a fantasy,” he continued. “I created this air of ‘We don’t address that thing’. My face was on billboards, and I thought it was my job to act a certain way. But I think audiences knew to a certain degree.”

The actor, who starred as Michael Scofield on Prison Break from 2005 to 2009, went on to say that he doesn’t think being an out gay man will have any effect on his large female fanbase.

“The people onscreen aren’t the characters they’re playing. They’re our projection of who we want them to be. I think it’s possible to have a man-crush if you’re not gay or to have a crush on a guy you know to be gay if you’re a woman,” he said.

“Attraction is fluid, and I think our imaginations are strong enough to hold a container for all of this complexity, even if we know on a subconscious level something’s not what it appears to be.”

Earlier this year Miller was voted one of the top most dateable gay men on the planet – click here for the full list.