Stephen Fry was "never the same again" after he first fell for a boy.

The 65-year-old actor - who is married to Elliott Spencer - admitted his first crush in his schooldays "completely dominated" his life and he credits the "agonising" time for introducing him to a broad spectrum of literature because he used books to help make sense of his feelings.

He told the Sunday Times Culture magazine in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike: "At school, I absolutely fell for a boy. Completely dominated my life from then on. Every waking moment. Guessing his paths to and from this lesson to that. Contriving opportunities for 'accidental' meetings.

"I was never the same again. I know — it’s soppy, clichéd and absurd. Calf love is, I suppose. But it’s heartbreakingly real too.

"o that agonising catastrophe I owe my discovery of whole oceans of literature. Books were the only sources I could consult back then.

"Suddenly, pop lyrics, love poetry and all those kissing scenes in films that I used to sigh impatiently at — they all made sense. There was before and there was after.

The 'Red, White and Royal Blue' star always knew he wanted to be an actor, but his mother encouraged him to pursue a career in law instead as she felt it was a more "realistic" ambition.

He recalled: "When asked at drinks parties by adults what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered 'an actor'. The eyebrows went up as they tried to picture this gawky and unprepossessing figure on stage.

"Returning from one such party my mother said brightly: 'Darling, why don’t you consider being a barrister? It’s just like an actor, but a much more realistic goal. '

"This idea took hold for a while, and I pictured myself stooping forward, thumbs on the sides of my gown, asking the jury if they could seriously believe such a tissue of lies.

"I developed a kind of law crush on [the prominent legal figures] Edward Marshall Hall and Rufus Isaacs. But that never really held. 'How do you get an elephant off the stage? You can’t, it’s in his blood.' "