Jim Parsons: Yes, We Still Need More Queer Stories Onscreen

Don’t expect Jim Parsons to stop pushing for improved LGBTQ representation in film and television anytime soon.

The “Big Bang Theory” star appeared on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on Monday to chat about his role in Broadway’s “The Boys in the Band.” The play, which also stars Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells and Zachary Quinto, is seen as a seminal queer drama, 50 years after it was first staged off-Broadway.

But Parsons, who is openly gay, interjected when Colbert asked if the show’s depiction of gay men needed updating. The actor likened the play to the film “Love, Simon,” which made history as the first romantic comedy distributed by a major Hollywood studio to focus on a gay teen. Some reviewers, however, felt the movie was too late, given recent social advances for the LGBTQ community.  

“Maybe if you’re a 30-something-year-old writer living in New York or L.A., it may be, like, ‘I don’t need to see this,’ obviously,” he said. “I think there are people in many other places that, yes, you do still need to see it.”

“How many straight rom-coms do we need? When is it too late for them?” he continued. “Let me get sick of too many gay rom-coms, then, thank you very much. Bring it on!” 

Parsons couldn’t be happier about his first Broadway role since 2015’s “An Act of God,” calling his “Boys in the Band” experience “heaven.” 

“There’s not a more athletic experience as an actor,” he said. “I understand how important it is to tell the story, in the same way that [an athlete] understands how important it is to score and how important it is to win the game.”