A Sexed-Up 'Single Man'

“I was torn between faith in Tom to make me look good and doubt in myself that I would,” he said, displaying exactly the understated charm you would expect .

Did he research what life was like for gay people in that era?

“No. No, with Prop 8 being passed in California in 2008, I don’t think I had to do much research into bigotry in 1962. I don’t think things have changed much. If you ask a lot gay people, I don’t think you’ll find that they feel that we’ve made much ground.”

But, he added, that wasn’t what drew him to the role. “I had no political or militant interest in this at all. In fact, I barely noticed the fact that he was gay. The other elements were so strong — love and loss and isolation and desperation. Also joy and lust and frivolity, all the things that happen in the one day in the life of this character. The fact that he happens to be gay is just one of those things. I didn’t think it was the salient feature.”

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