Jim Parsons recently spoke to the New York Times for a profile piece, as he prepares for his first summer on Broadway leading a cast - 'The Big Bang Theory' man starring in a revival of 'Harvey,' a Pulitzer-winning comedy from 1944 about a man and his invisible friend. However he might not have expected quite the depths in which the piece would go into his personal life, and - compliantly or not - has come out as gay.
Talking about Parsons appearing in 'The Normal Heart' on Broadway last year - a play about AIDs and its impact on young gay men - the writer casually mentioned "Mr. Parsons is gay and in a 10-year relationship, and working with an ensemble again onstage was like nourishment, he said." Of course, there were plenty of other points to focus on during the piece, but it's this one that's unsurprisingly been picked up on.
Elsewhere in that same interview, Parsons spoke of his excitement at playing main character Elwood in 'Harvey,' saying "Elwood has such warmth, and wants nothing more than to connect with other people, whereas my nine-month-a-year job is a character who says things like, 'If you don't mind, I'd like to stop listening to you and talk now.' The jump-out-of-bed happiness I feel transcends any nerves about taking on a history-laden role."