British actor Ben Whishaw says that he found it difficult to come out with dignity.

The 34-year-old Whishaw is best known for playing Q in the James Bond film Skyfall and Freddie in the BBC period drama The Hour.

Last year, Whishaw announced that he's in a civil partnership with Mark Bradshaw, an Australian composer.

“It was never a secret, everyone around me in my life knew,” Whishaw said in an interview with Marie Claire. “It's just very hard to know how to say it, in a way, with some sort of dignity and to remain private.”

“It was something that happened at that time and now I'm very happy it's just a fact and I can get on with my life,” he added.

Whishaw will be the voice of Paddington Bear in the film Paddington, which opens later this month in the United Kingdom.