CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Photography by Danielle Levitt
There have been many powerful coming-out statements, but few as elegant and considered as Miller's letter this August declining an invitation to be honored at the St. Petersburg International Film Festival. "As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes. However, as a gay man, I must decline," Miller wrote to festival director Maria Averbakh.
"Like everyone, I'd been reading reports online about what was happening in Russia," Miller says. "So when the invitation arrived, I thought, There is no way I can say yes. Then it occurred to me that if I made my response public, it might help draw additional attention to the situation. It felt like the right move at the right time."
Best known to millions of Americans for his role as Michael Scofield in the hit Fox series Prison Break (for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2006), Miller has since transitioned from acting to writing. He was responsible for the screenplay to this year's well-received thriller Stoker, starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode, and Mia Wasikowska, and has another screenplay, The Disappointments Room, set to star Kate Beckinsale and directed by DJ Caruso (Disturbia).
Miller took another courageous step in September, appearing at a Seattle event for the Human Rights Campaign, where he opened up about his suicide attempts as a teenager, concluding with a powerful statement of intent: "Let me be to someone else what no one was to me. Let me send a message to that kid, maybe in America, maybe someplace far overseas, maybe somewhere deep inside -- a kid who is being targeted at home or at school or in the streets -- that someone is watching and listening and caring, that there is an 'us,' that there is a 'we,' and that kid or teenager or adult is loved and they are not alone."
Out asked Miller, who praises the Mankind Project for much of his personal growth -- "It sounded way out of my comfort zone, but I was looking for a change, shift, growth" -- to consider what he might say to his 15-year-old self. Here's how he replied:
"There are plenty of things I'd say to my 15-year-old self, especially prior to his suicide attempt. However, I'd have things to say to him in the aftermath as well. I remember carrying around deep feelings of shame after I tried to kill myself, feeling like I'd stumbled or failed life's exam. That I was now 'damaged goods.' What I would say to that younger self -- what I'd say to anyone who's walked a similar road -- is to focus less on the fact that you nearly ended your life and more on the fact that you survived, that you lived to tell the tale. And then tell it. I'd say, 'What you think of as scars are medals. They're badges of honor, testifying to something inside you that is determined and tenacious and enduring.' That's why when someone who knows my story approaches me with a 'poor you' attitude, my response is, 'Don't feel sorry for me. Because I know what it is to be tested. I know what it's like to be broken and to have to pick myself up again. I know who I am in those moments. And I'm stronger for it.' There are people out there who have never been tested, who have never been broken, so when life eventually comes for them they can't say for sure how they'll respond. Maybe they'll pick themselves up and maybe they won't. And my heart goes out to them. Because sooner or later, life comes for everybody."
Photographed in Los Angeles on October 7, 2013
SLIDESHOW: See the Complete Out100 List
From Your Site Articles
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
38 Male Celebs Who Did Full Frontal Scenes
November 17 2023 5:18 PM
These are all the celebrities Who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2023
December 31 2023 12:19 PM
These Pics Prove Maluma Has Always Been a Certified Daddy
October 20 2023 1:13 PM
32 LGBTQ+ Celebs You Can Follow on OnlyFans
October 25 2023 3:15 PM
26 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
February 28 2024 1:50 PM
16 Times Celebrity Men Had to Say They Weren't Gay
February 29 2024 1:19 PM
15 Unforgettable Gay Kissing Scenes From TV & Movies
February 14 2024 10:20 AM
13 Queens Who Quit or Retired From Drag After 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
November 24 2023 10:11 AM
40 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
January 04 2024 10:54 AM
The 15 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of 2023
December 04 2023 10:32 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Dan Levy & Aubrey Plaza teach us how to properly spell & pronounce Loewe
March 28 2024 10:45 AM
Kristen Stewart turns Seth Meyers into a 'lesbian icon' in this hilarious video
March 28 2024 10:41 AM
Meet the reality TV baddies competing on 'House of Villains' season 2
March 27 2024 3:48 PM
Meet Kristen Kish, the new out host of 'Top Chef'
March 27 2024 3:36 PM
24 albums that turn 10 years old in 2024
March 27 2024 2:43 PM
Breaking boundaries in gender-free fashion with Stuzo Clothing
March 27 2024 2:15 PM
Meet Phillip Davis, Johnny Sibilly's new BF who he just hard-launched
March 27 2024 12:49 PM
Meet Ricky & Cesar, 'Amazing Race 36's loveable gay underdog couple
March 27 2024 12:09 PM
March 27, 2024
March 27 2024 12:07 PM
Yvonne & Melissa weren't 'U-Haul lesbians' before 'Amazing Race 36'
March 27 2024 11:38 AM
Iconic comedy 'John Tucker Must Die' is getting a sequel, making Millennial gays very happy
March 27 2024 10:50 AM
'Barbie' star Hari Nef is starring in a biopic about this trans legend
March 26 2024 7:02 PM