Ben Aldridge talked about his coming
out in a cover story for UK LGBTQ glossy Attitude.
The 37-year-old actor plays a gay man
in two current films: Spoiler Alert and Knock at the Cabin.
(First Look: Ben
Aldridge, Jonathan Groff play gay couple in horror film Knock
at the Cabin.)
Aldridge, who came out in an Instagram
post in 2020, told Attitude that he feared coming out would
end his acting career.
“I was really terrified that it would
derail my career,” Aldridge said of creating an online dating
profile without a photo.
(Related: Spoiler
Alert,
starring Jim Parsons, Ben Aldridge as a gay couple, opens in select
theaters.)
He also talked about growing up in a
religious household.
“I was just deeply ashamed and deeply
afraid. There was no positive to it. It was only ever a ‘negative
lifestyle.' And I also didn’t know what it was, as well. I didn’t
know what it would lead to. I had no examples. None at all,”
Aldridge
said. “I didn’t even let myself watch Queer as Folk. I
was too afraid to watch it.”
“Queer as Folk just scared the
shit out of me. I remember seeing Aidan Gillen going online to get a
prostitute and inviting him over. I was thrilled and excited, and
also really terrified to be watching it.”
“My family at one point banned me
from watching Neighbours because it was too adult-themed. It
was like, people having affairs and stuff. We were banned from
watching Friends, too, at one point. That makes us sound like
we were Mormons,” he laughed. “We weren’t.”
Aldridge is best known for his roles in
Fleabag, Our Girl, Pennyworth, and The Long
Call.