T.R. Knight Can Now Avoid Dopey (Straight) Interview Questions

T.R. Knight at some GQ magazine function, looking scruffily dapper.

As reported all over the place yesterday, actor T.R. Knight, who stars as Dr. George O’Malley on TV’s Grey’s Anatomy came out, and said “Excuse me, I’m gay.” Or words to that effect. Yay, T.R.!

This act was evidently prompted by stories about an on-set brawl between stars Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey, which somehow involved a gay slur being used. (Umm... Geez, guys—grow up, already!). So props to Knight. for speaking up and helping cool the fuss.

And Knight’s gotta be relieved he doesn’t have to deal with these kinds of interview questions anymore. Here’s an exchange from an ABC News interview with Knight back in February, in which the reporter gets personal...

Reporter: Unlike George, do you have luck with the ladies?
Knight: I have ladies and ladies and ladies and ladies. No, I'm pretty much with the show. You can't even have a pet. The pet would be dead.

Nice dodge, but what a dopey, presumptuous, almost eerily chauvinistic question... And this comes from another interview that ran in Knight’s hometown paper, the Minneaoplis Star Tribune, also this past February:

“Someone asked him what it's like to be a sex symbol. (If co-star Patrick Dempsey is Dr. McDreamy, then Knight is Dr. McCuddly.) He hemmed and hawed his way through a self-deprecating answer, eliciting laughs from a stoic group of critics with little more than a stammer.”

So now when asked these kind of questions, maybe Knight can answer a little more comfortably. Nonetheless, it’s great to see a smart and talented young actor come out. Will this affect his career? Let's hope not. AfterElton has some good points discussing it.

Congrats, T.R.!