English actor Ben Whishaw has come out gay and in a civil
partnership with partner Mark Bradshaw, an Australian composer
The 32-year-old Whishaw is best known for playing Q in the James
Bond film Skyfall and Freddie in the BBC period drama The
Hour.
A representative confirmed Whishaw and
Bradshaw, 30, entered a civil partnership in Sydney, Australia last
year.
“Ben has never hidden his sexuality,
but like many actors he prefers not to discuss his family or life
outside of his work,” the representative said. “Due to
speculation, I can confirm that Ben and Mark entered into a civil
partnership in August 2012. They were proud to do so and are very
happy.”
The men met on the set of the 2009 film
Bright Star, which is based on the last three years of the
life of poet John Keats. Whishaw played Keats and Bradshaw wrote the
score.
Last year, Whishaw
said that he would rather not discuss his private life: “For
me, it's important to keep a level of anonymity. As an actor, your
job is to persuade people that you're someone else. So if you're
constantly telling people about yourself, I think you're shooting
yourself in the foot.”