Australian actor Harry Cook on Sunday
announced he's gay in a YouTube video titled “From the heart..”
“I am gay,” the 22-year-old Cook
said in the 4-minute clip.
“There's a few reason I was really
kind of scared to say it to begin with. One was I thought I might
get backlash for it. Two, I had a feeling that not many people give
a shit anyway. … And three, the industry I work in, unfortunately
sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes studios, producers,
directors, whatever, sometimes they can be kind of close-minded in a
sense that they sometimes would think, 'If you're gay as a person,
you wouldn't be able to play a straight role.'”
“I thought about it for a really long
time and really stewed over it. I was like, 'Oh my god, this could
ruin my career,'” he added. (The video is embedded on this page.
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Cook tweeted the video to his more than
145,000 followers.
“Not gonna lie. I'm pretty scared
about doing this. But I know it's the right thing to do. So …,”
Cook messaged along with the link to his coming out clip.
He thanked well-wishers on Monday: “I'm
rather speechless with the amount of love out there. Couldn't be
more grateful. *Group hug*.”
The England-born Cook moved with his
family at the age of ten to Sydney. His big break came in 2009, when
he landed the role of Harry Conway in the film Accidents Happen
opposite Geena Davis.