Andrew H. Walker/Getty ImagesSaffron Burrows knows how to keep a secret.
The former Law & Order: Criminal Intent star has revealed in a new interview that she married her longtime girlfriend Alison Balian, a writer for the Ellen DeGeneres Show, about 16 months ago. Burrows gave birth to their son two years ago.
"I chose to speak to you because I don't want to lie by omission and I want to be very straightforward about my life," Burrows, 42, tells writer Hermione Hoby in The Guardian. "I don't want to hesitate and feel hindered by something I haven't said. Also, I'm really proud of my family and who they are, these two individuals beside me. That's certainly my proudest achievement. And for my boy, I want to be honest with him because he deserves it—but also proud.
"And I want us to live a very honest life with each other," she continues. "I think for a while I was just avoiding conversations, in order to not be labeled in some way that I felt was limiting and not actually true to who I am. I really salute these young women who come out, but if I said I was gay that wouldn't be true."
Burrows' past relationships include several years with director Mike Figgis and an engagement to Alan Cumming.
"In the same way, when I started to have relationships, I didn't think about what I wasn't 'allowed' to feel, or who I wasn't allowed to love, and consequently I've loved some really incredible men and some really incredible women," Burrows says. "There's no coming out to do because I've always just followed my heart and I was lucky enough to have parents who didn't impose any bigotry on me. So to come out would actually be an untruth because the men I've loved were very vivid, real, loving relationships."
Burrows was just 15 when she was launched her modeling career after being spotted by a fashion photographer in Covent Garden. She made her feature film debut in Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father. In addition to Law & Order, she has appeared on television on Boston Legal and most recently on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
She will next be seen in Mozart in the Jungle, an Amazon series co-starring Malcolm McDowell and Gael Garcia Bernal and set in a New York City orchestra.
Burrows has rarely spoken about her private life, but says Maria Bello inspired her newfound openness after she wrote an essay in The New York Times a year ago about falling in love with a woman.
"I remember thinking first of all, that's brave," says Burrows, "and also, what she was saying was a little bit like what I'm saying. Not a big reveal of some kind, just, ‘This is what I am.' It struck a chord. Sometimes, you think, ‘Oh I'll do that later, I'll be more open or more openly honest.' And then you're so busy not wanting to be defined that you don't. And there's a moment when you think, ‘Well when am I going to do that?'"