Matt Bomer wasn't the only one praising Wentworth Miller last night.
Miller's Resident Evil: Afterlife costar Ali Larter says it's "fantastic" that he came out of the closet as a gay man while taking a stand against Russia's antigay laws.
"I just think he's brave and incredible," Larter told me at the opening of the Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival. "I just think it's a wonderful choice."
And an "absolutely classy" way to reveal his sexuality, Larter said. "He wanted to stand up for what he believed in...I'm in awe of that."
Wentworth came out earlier this week in a letter declining an invitation to attend a film festival in Russia.
"Thank you for your kind invitation. 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," Wentworth, 41, wrote to Maria Averbakh, director of the St. Petersburg International Film Festival. "However, as a gay man, I must decline.
"I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government," he continued in the letter. "The situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly."
Implemented last month, a controversial new law has banned "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors," including the public discussion of gay rights and relationships anywhere children might hear it. The law has been condemned by Russian and international human rights groups as highly discriminatory and fuel for antigay violence.
The anti-gay propaganda law quickly stirred up controversy, with people calling for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia to gay bars in Los Angeles and New York holding "vodka-dumping" protests.
At last night's Heineken U.S. Open kickoff party at PH-D at Dream Downtown in New York City, Bomer said of Wentworth, "Wow, I think its really bold and incredibly classy how he came out and did it. I am really proud of him. Its very reflective of his amazing character."
The White Collar star came out in February 2012.