Quote

The gay thing has always been hard for me.

It was difficult being a teacher and out of the closet in the '50s. By the time I retired, the English department was proud of having a gay poet of a certain minor fame. It was a very satisfactory change!

The old Victorian laws against homosexuality were still on the statute books until the early 1990s. As a gay man living in Ireland, I and people like me found it easy to feel less than citizens.

People have known of Shakespeare's homosexuality down through the ages.

For some strange reason, my gay life didn't get easier when I came out. Quite the opposite happened, really.

I've always been drawn to the Edwardian period in England. To me, it seems like such a fascinating time, when the British Empire was at the height of its powers and the strict mores of the Victorian age were dissipating into the decadence of King Edward's reign.

Once you're sort of pigeonholed into something, it's quite difficult to get out of it. I have no aversion to playing a gay character again, but it would definitely have to be the right role.

I've been openly gay since I can remember.

What was interesting was talking to older gay men about what it was like being gay in the Eighties.

Gay actors have been playing straight since Euripides.