Wentworth Miller: I Tried to Commit Suicide Before Coming Out

Wentworth Miller continues to show courage since coming out as gay in late August. The 41-year-old actor spoke at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner in Seattle Saturday, Sept. 7, revealing that he tried to commit suicide "more than once" as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality.

"The first time I tried to kill myself I was 15. I waited until my family went away for the family and I was alone in the house and I swallowed a bottle of pills," he revealed to a large audience. "I don't remember what happened over the next couple of days but I'm pretty sure come Monday morning I was on the bus back to school pretending everything was fine."

"Growing up I was a target. Speaking the right way, standing the right way, holding your wrist the right way. Every day was a test and there was a thousand ways to fail," he said. "A thousand ways to portray yourself to not live up to someone else's standards of what was accepted."

The former Prison Break star also admitted that it made him nervous to come out early in his career. "I had multiple opportunities to speak my truth, which is that I was gay, but I chose not to. I was out privately to family and friends -- publicly, I was not." He continued: "I chose to lie -- when I thought about the possibility of coming out, how that might impact me and the career I worked so hard for, I was filled with fear."

In a brave statement, Miller finally came out of the closest in a letter to the organizers of the St. Petersburg International Film Festival in Russia on Aug. 21. He reasoned that "in good conscience," he could not attend an event in a country that has anti-gay laws, including a ban on adoption of Russian-born children to national and international same-sex couples.

Wentworth Miller: I Tried to Commit Suicide Before Coming Out

This makes me so sad. I was literally obsessed w/ him on Prison Break, and wondered why we haven't seem him in anything in years..

Re: Wentworth Miller: I Tried to Commit Suicide Before Coming Out

The fact that he couldn't be himself is so sad.

He didn't just come out though and that is why I am so confused. He was dating other men for years and publicly. He dated Luke Macfarlane for a while and it was known. A quick google search brings up old articles.
I did a quick search and there was even an thread on here about it many years ago.



Link to Thread

Re: Wentworth Miller: I Tried to Commit Suicide Before Coming Out

This makes me said

"Growing up I was a target. Speaking the right way, standing the right way, holding your wrist the right way. Every day was a test and there was a thousand ways to fail," he said. "A thousand ways to portray yourself to not live up to someone else's standards of what was accepted."