Sean Hayes says the forged of “Will & Grace” obtained some complicated hate mail after the sequence premiered in 1998.
Throughout an episode of the “SmartLess” podcast launched on Monday, Hayes advised fellow co-hosts Jason Bateman and Will Arnett and visitor Trevor Noah that he and his forged mates “used to get death threats all the time” from folks offended in regards to the sequence that includes homosexual characters.
The present adopted the friendship between Debra Messing’s Grace Adler and Eric McCormack’s Will Truman, a straight lady and her homosexual finest pal residing in New York Metropolis. Hayes performed character Jack McFarland, who was additionally homosexual, whereas Megan Mullally rounded out their quirky clique as Karen Walker.
Whereas the demise threats had been one factor, Hayes stated there was a much less menacing message that managed to etch into his reminiscence.
Detailing “one of the greatest letters we ever got,” the actor stated, “This woman wrote in to ‘Will & Grace’ — took the time, got a pen, paper, wrote it, got a stamp, mailed it. Remember, this was before the internet and everything. It’s a lot of effort to really share with someone how much you hate them.”
“This one woman wrote in, and she said, ‘We’re all going to hell. You should be ashamed for putting this on television. You’re all horrible people. But I love the show, I just don’t like what it’s about,’” Hayes continued.
“It was the craziest thing,” he added.
The “Cats & Dogs” actor beforehand talked about how getting demise threats whereas on “Will & Grace” left him “scared” for his security throughout a 2018 interview with The Guardian.
“I didn’t have the tools at such a young age to deal with the ramifications of coming out as gay in a huge public way,” stated Hayes, who waited till 2010 to return out publicly.
“But wisdom comes with age,” he continued. “And you realize, ‘Oh, I was doing more damage in not coming out sooner. I should have been more fearless, like my character.’”
Hearken to the complete episode of “SmartLess” on-line.
