Jim Parsons Recalls His Coming Out on #ActorsStudio

The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons sits down with host James Lipton on Inside The Actor's Studio, airing June 18.

During the candid interview, the four-time Emmy award winner opened up about how the world learned he was gay.

"I just didn't mention it. I took [my boyfriend] Todd [Spiewak] with me to events and certainly [it was like] 'Well you never know when the topic's going to be broached," he recalls during the discussion with Lipton. "And then finally one day while working on Harvey, I did a piece with Patrick Healy for The New York Times and he just point-blank asked, ‘Was working on The Normal Heart meaningful to you as a gay man?' And I was like, ‘Well, yeah.' And what a wonderful… I can't tell you what a wonderful thing that was, what a gift he gave me with one question. It was suddenly out there and official."

While Parsons is best known for his role on the hit CBS sitcom, he does admit that working on a more serious-minded project like The Normal Heart, a play (later made into a HBO film) that examines the first few years of the AIDS epidemic, was "profound."

"In the same way of looking back on Big Bang and seeing the effect it had on my life," he says. "It will be the same, the longer I get away from it the more I feel, getting to be a part of The Normal Heart, both the play and the movie, this is what one wants. I hope it happens a few more times in my life, but who knows?"

To hear more from Jim, tune into Inside The Actor's Studio at 8pm ET/PT on Bravo this Thursday.