Douglas Spain Becomes the Change He Wants To See

Douglas Spain believes in leading by example. The actor, whose career has spanned nearly two decades, over two dozen films (including the critically acclaimed Star Maps, for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination), and countless television projects, says that despite being out to many friends and family members, he found himself in too many scenarios in which he couldn’t be real. So Thursday he took to Facebook and announced to the rest of his inner circle — and the world — that he is gay.

The Advocate: What led you to come out?
Douglas Spain: Honestly, I was a bit depressed at the beginning of the year, and I couldn’t pinpoint why. Then I realized I had gotten to a point where I only wanted to play pretend in front of the camera and not behind it.

Most of your friends and family knew?
Yes. Technically I came out when I was 17. And when I became an actor I went right back in in order to protect my career.

Did anyone in your professional circle advise you to stay in the closet?
Yeah. And I’ve been in the business a long time, so I’ve seen careers fail [because of it]. Neil Patrick Harris is the exception. I’ve been in situations in people’s homes — people who didn’t know I was gay — and Anne Heche would come on the television and they would make comments like, “I don’t believe her as a straight love interest.” As an actor I always felt that the less people know about you, the more believable your characters can be. There are many actors that are chameleons, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we don’t know much about their personal lives. Gary Oldman is a great example. Michael Fassbender, who is a friend and someone I’ve worked with, is another. He’s able to become all these characters because people don’t know much about him.

Have you experienced any homophobia in Hollywood?
Not personally. But another actor I sort of grew up with, Wilson Cruz, he came out a long time ago and most of the characters he’s played have been gay. I’ve played gay characters myself in addition to many others. But I didn’t want to do only gay roles. I didn’t want to become the “gay-to” character that people pursued.

So you wouldn’t shy away from a large gay part?
Not at all. I was in But I’m a Cheerleader, and he was one of my favorite characters. He was a guy who was trying to change who he was inside because of society, and in the end he came to realize that you can’t. And he triumphed. He was one of the only characters in the film who was true to himself.