Jerod Harris/Getty Images for WIREDKristian Nairn didn't hide the fact that he was gay—it just so happened that until recently, no one ever asked him about it!
The Game of Thrones star, known for his role as Hodor on the HBO series, spoke publicly about his sexuality Tuesday in an interview with the blog Winter Is Coming.
When the interviewer asked Nairn, 38, if he was aware of his "extensive" gay fan base—particularly amongst particularly rugged men who sometimes refer to themselves as "bears'—he quipped back, "Well, in all honesty, when you talk about "the gay community," you are talking about MY community, haha."
As for his gay following? "I AM aware of it yeah, and I think it's really lovely," he said. "There's not a day that I don't get a few messages, but 99% or more are super sweet and nothing smutty at all! Again, it's a privilege, and I really mean that."
But, as the Irishman points out he'd "never hidden my sexuality from anyone, my whole life in fact," and he'd "been waiting for someone to ask about it in an interview, cos it's not something you just blurt out.."
"I've tried to lead the questions a few times," he admitted, "to no avail!"
The actor joked about this on Twitter, writing, "haha. Yeah it's weird to see 'comes out' as the headline!! I was never in!! No one asked! Lol."
Fair enough. He clarified, too, that being gay is "a very small part of who I am on the whole, but nonetheless, in this day and age, it's important to stand up and be counted."
"I have and always will stand my ground," he told Winter Is Coming. "So, yeah, people have been great, on the show, but I don't see why it would be an issue."
As for any parents who might take issue with their child "acting with a gay man?" That's never come up, Nairn said, adding, "I would love to see the children in question on the show react to [someone telling them] that...That's so not even been an issue. The families and kids on the show are so switched on to reality, to 'old ways' aren't an issue."