Will & Grace Sidekick Comes Out

Breaking news from, oh, 1998 or so: Sean Hayes is gay. After years of what many considered equivocating, the actor who gained fame as the flamboyant sidekick Jack on Will & Grace tells the Advocate, "I am who I am. I was never in, as they say. Never." But he also acknowledges what the magazine calls "a 'don't ask, don't tell' strategy."

His reticence was a defense mechanism, designed to counter the inevitable type-casting that grows out of a high-profile role and the industry's lack of imagination. "There were like 50 commercials where I was the husband or the nerdy boy or whatever, and then I became famous for playing this gay guy,” says Hayes, 39. “None of this is up to anybody. It’s what the suits decide for you."
(More Will and Grace stories.)