Because celebrities are prone to getting idiotic interview questions (what’s Demi Lovato‘s favorite dish? and how does Connie Britton get her amazing hair?), it is still widely accepted and seen as normal to ask people about their sexuality in a public forum. But you’d think a reporter from an LGBT site called Daily Xtra would have a more intelligent question for Tom Hardy at the Toronto International Film Festival, and, alas, he did not.
Tom was there to promote Legend, a crime movie about a pair of notorious British criminals, and the reporter from the gay and lesbian news site had this to ask Tom:
“In the film, your character Ronnie is very open about his sexuality. But given interviews you’ve done in the past, your own sexuality seems a bit more ambiguous. Do you find it hard for celebrities to talk to media about their sexuality?”
Tom responded: “What on earth are you on about?” The reporter said: “I was referring to an interview given to Attitude magazine a few years ago.”
It’s worth noting that in the Attitude interview, Tom said this: “I’ve played with everything and everyone. But I’m not into men sexually. I love the form and the physicality but the gay sex bit does nothing for me.” In 2011, he addressed that 2008 interview and said his words were “misconstrued,” and that he was “irritated his words were taken out of context, but conceded, ‘one thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.’”
So, now we’re in 2015, and Tom is wondering what the hell the reporter was actually asking him.
“I was wondering if you find it difficult for celebrities to talk about their sexuality,” he said.
Tom answered: “I don’t find it difficult for celebrities to talk about their sexuality. Um, are you asking me about my sexuality?”
The reporter, clearly flabbergasted, said: “Um.. sure.”
Tom then shut that shit down, asked him: “why?” and then cut him off and moved on to the next reporter.
Clearly this 2008 interview is going to continually follow Tom, because when you type his name into Google, the first thing that pops up is “Tom Hardy sexuality.” And it comes up all the time for celebrities. Even Demi was just asked if her latest song was “about lesbianism” and she coyly responded that she’d “experimented” in the past.
There are two arguments to the story: one is that, frankly, it’s nobody’s business what an actor’s sexuality is while he’s at a film festival promoting his latest movie. The other is, by admitting something, that Tom Hardy could be helping a teenager struggling with his or her identity, or make a young person out there feel a little less alone. But if Tom wants to go to a film festival to promote his movie without discussing his sexuality, then he has every right to do so. It really isn’t anybody’s business either way. Tom, you’re my hero for not putting up with bullshit questions. Here’s hoping that interviewers will learn from these instances and focus on the important issues, like Tom Hardy’s glorious MySpace photos.