The actor on growing up gay in bible belt Texas, what his new film says about the progress of LGBTQ+ rights – and what he learned from his son coming out as straight
Matt Bomer looks too good to be true: zinging blue eyes, dark shirt partially unbuttoned, glossy black hair a mere kiss-curl away from Christopher Reeve-era Superman. The 42-year-old actor even has a sunny disposition, despite it being not yet 10am in Los Angeles. He is video-calling from the bright attic room of the home he shares with his husband, the Hollywood publicist Simon Halls, and their three sons; a rubber plant yoo-hoos over his shoulder. Presumably, Bomer just tumbled out of bed looking that way and plonked himself in front of the webcam. “I wish,” he smiles, exuding the faintly weary graciousness of someone whose appearance has been attracting comment since long before he was named sexiest man on TV in 2011. “I’ve already been up a while, making breakfast, getting the kids settled into ‘Zoom school’ and trying to get my meditation in.”
That reference to meditation can’t help but call to mind the Oprah-quoting, reiki-practising stripper Ken, whom he played in the two Magic Mike movies. “I don’t really know if I use the same meditation techniques that Ken does,” he laughs. “But I think there was definitely something about me there which Reid [Carlin, the screenwriter] was riffing on.”
