Someone outed him to kill his career, and all it did was free him to take the roles that actually mattered.
At a glance
- Known for
- Neal Caffrey in *White Collar*, Golden Globe winner for *The Normal Heart*
- Before fame
- Played wide receiver in high school; his father was a Dallas Cowboys draft pick
- Off-screen
- Married his publicist Simon Halls after hiring him for *White Collar*
Rise to Fame
A four-month audition for J.J. Abrams' Superman: Flyby ended with a signed three-picture deal at Warner Bros. He's said someone then told the producers he was gay, and the deal disappeared. This was the early 2000s, when studios still weaponized that kind of information.
Soap operas came first, then a recurring spot on Chuck, and then White Collar in 2009. The USA Network show about a charming con artist drew 5.4 million viewers on its premiere and ran six seasons. Neal Caffrey, a grifter who survives on charm alone, was a better showcase for what he does than any cape would've been.
In the Spotlight
Dropping 40 pounds for The Normal Heart won him a Golden Globe in 2015. A decade later, Fellow Travelers earned him nominations for both a Golden Globe and an Emmy as lead actor. The roles that define his second act, a closeted State Department official during the Lavender Scare and a dying AIDS patient, are the ones a closeted actor couldn't have touched.
He turned down a Ken in Barbie to play one of Bernstein's lovers in Maestro. White Collar: Renaissance is in development with the original cast returning. The career someone tried to end by outing him is, by any measure, more interesting than the one Superman would've launched.
Side Notes
Football runs in the family. His father was a Dallas Cowboys draft pick in 1972, and he played wide receiver in high school before choosing acting instead. Probably the smarter bet, given the injury rate. His classmates at Klein High included Lee Pace and Lynn Collins, which makes one suburban Texas school an oddly efficient Hollywood pipeline.
He married his publicist, Simon Halls, in 2011 after hiring him for White Collar. Their eldest son 'came out to us as straight,' as he's put it. The line gets a laugh, but it also quietly dismantles every assumption about what a family is supposed to look like, which is the kind of thing he does without making a speech about it.