Gay Iconography: Our Favorite Moments Of Out Hollywood Heartthrob

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You won’t get too much of an argument calling Matt Bomer one of the hottest actors today, and not only because he’s got those Hollywood handsome good looks. The star of screens both big and small will be heating things up this summer in Magic Mike XXL and then bringing the scares in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Hotel. Bomer came out publicly in 2012 while accepting the New Generation Arts and Activism Award from the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards. In his acceptance speech, he said “And I'd really especially like to thank my beautiful family: Simon, Kit, Walker, Henry. Thank you for teaching me what unconditional love is. You will always be my proudest accomplishment,” acknowledging his husband and three children. His coming out set rumors about the actor’s sexuality to rest, but it also raised the age-old questions about openly gay actors playing straight heartthrobs. There was a lot of momentum to cast Bomer as the lead in the film adaptation of kinky housewife trash-lit Fifty Shades of Grey. (The role eventually went to Jamie Dornan.) Bret Easton Ellis, who was once in the running to be the screenwriter for the film, said that Bomer couldn’t play the role because of his sexuality. He tweeted “Okay I'll say it. Matt Bomer isn't right for Christian Grey because he is openly gay. He's great for other roles but this is too big a game.” Additionally, novelist Jackie Collins, claimed Bomer missed out on playing Superman after coming out. She told Gaydar Radio, “Matt Bomer, who is the most gorgeous looking guy and the star of White Collar, he was up for the role of Superman. He had not come out of the closet but people in the know knew he was gay. His audition tape went in and he called up the agent. Someone didn’t like him and told them he was gay. They said, 'No, no, we can’t cast you.' The reason he didn’t get cast was because he was gay.” Still, Bomer’s kept himself pretty busy. Take a look at some of our favorite Matt moments, AFTER THE JUMP …