Jonathan Groff, beloved theater gay and star of Glee and Mindhunter, opened up about his coming out journey in HBO Max's new documentary Spring Awakening: Those You've Known.
While Groff came out publicly just after his run as Melchior in the Broadway debut of Spring Awakening, he says it took still took some time for him to truly love himself: six years to be exact.
"It wasn't like I came out when I was 23 and everything was great," he told Out in a new interview. "I came out of the closet and I was still feeling quite shameful for many years."
That all changed when he was cast as Patrick Murray, a video game developer with a chaotic love life.
"When I did Looking, I was playing a gay character on a set with a lot of gay people. I started to fall in love with who I was for the first time. It was really that experience that really turned the corner for me."
Being not only open about who he is but truly loving himself has been the best thing for his personal life as well as for his acting career. He now says he's better able to tap into his straight characters because any discomfort about his own identity has disapparated.
"Truth really did set me free, ultimately."
Spring Awakening: Those You've Known is available to watch now on HBO Max. Watch the interview below:
