“Skyfall” actor Ben Wishaw has revealed in a statement that he is not only gay, but happily married to composer Mark Bradshaw. This after years of anonymity before the public of his personal life. The two have been married since last August. A statement issued to the Daily Mail this weekend expressed the situation.
“Ben has never hidden his sexuality, but like many actors he prefers not to discuss his family or life outside of his work,” said his spokesman Friday. “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 two met on the set of Jane Campion’s 2009 film Bright Star, which dramatized poet John Keats’s affair with neighbor Fanny Brawne. Ben had the lead, and Mark composed the score.
There has been much speculation on whether Ben Wishaw was gay, and though that is standard fair for the profession, his roles in two gay productions, one of them called “Cock,” led to speculation as to his orientation. In an interview with Out magazine, he danced around the issue:
“[A]s an actor you have total rights to privacy and mystery, whatever your sexuality, whatever you do. I don’t see why that has to be something you discuss openly because you do something in the public eye. I have no understanding of why we turn actors into celebrities. It’s difficult talking about it. That’s why I didn’t want to go there, but at the same time I know this is a gay magazine and that means there’s a conflict there.”
Pouting that he wishes her weren’t a celebrity might seem a bit disingenuous, but at least now that he has come out it could make things simpler for her in interviews, with fewer ellipses.