7:15 pm, September 8th, 2013
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Wentworth Miller has revealed he attempted suicide several times as he tried to navigate life as a closeted teen and, later, actor.
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The “Prison Break” star, who confirmed his sexual orientation for the first time publicly last month, spoke at Saturday’s Human Rights Campaign Dinner in Seattle.
“The first time that I tried to kill myself, I was 15. I waited until my family went away for the weekend and I was alone in the house and I swallowed a bottle of pills,” admitted Wentworth.
He went on, ”When someone asked me if that was a cry for help, I said no, because I told no one. You only cry for help if you believe there’s help to cry for. I wanted out.”
As a TV star, Wentworth said he had “multiple opportunities to speak my truth… but I chose not to.”
“When I thought about the possibility of coming out and how that would impact me and the career I worked so hard for, I was filled with fear,” he recalled.
By 2011, the pressure had become too much and Wentworth left acting behind.
It wasn’t until he learned about the oppressive laws against the LBGT community in Russia and received an arguably timely invitation to the St. Petersburg Film Festival that the actor decided to speak publicly.
“I thought, ‘Let me be to someone else what no one was to me,’” said Wentworth.
Check out clips from Wentworth’s speech below.
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