There is something so magnetic about Matt Bomer.
Maybe it’s those blue eyes or that angular jaw. Or maybe, it’s his incredible acting talent that has won him countless awards, including a Golden Globe.
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But he’s also a very private celeb, which means that there is a lot to be unearthed. Like, ahem, the fact that he was this close to playing Super-Man!
1. He’s from Texas.
He was raised in the state on October 11, 1977. His father was even drafted by the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
Matt also played some football himself, but he left the team when he was 18 to focus on theatre.
2. He came out as gay in 2012.
The American Horror Story star did so by thanking his husband, Simon Halls, and their three children during an acceptance speech for his Steve Chase Humanitarian Award.
This came after years of people questioning his sexuality.
3. He’s a huge advocate for LGBTQ rights.
He’s won several awards for his involvement over the years. One of the first charities he worked with in L.A. was the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network.
“It’s one of my favorites because they offer welcome breaks to children with serious medical conditions.”
4. He used to be a soap star.
With those good looks, it’s easy to see why. He starred as Ben Reade on Guiding Light for more than a year in the early 2000s.
He told Out magazine that it was one of the craziest experiences in his life.
“I told the writers, ‘Give me the craziest shit you’ve ever given anybody.'”
“I’ll tell you what happened to my character in the course of a year and a half: I was a trust fund baby who bet my fraternity brothers that I could be the first to deflower the town virgin. The only virgin in town.”
5. He worked several odd jobs as a struggling actor.
As many aspiring actors do, Bomer moved to New York after graduation to try his hand at acting.
While he booked a few small Broadway roles, he had to pay the bills somehow. So he worked as a bellman at Ian Schrager’s Hudson Hotel and waited tables.
6. He graduated from the same school as Joe Manganiello.
If you remember (and how could you forget?), they both starred in Magic Mike together.
They both attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, and even graduated the same year!
7. He was almost Superman.
He certainly looks the part!
Director Brett Ratner wanted him in the 2006 remake of Superman , but he ended up leaving the project.
When the new director, Bryan Singer, came on, he chose Brandon Routh.
8. Coming out to his parents wasn’t easy.
“I’m not going to lie and say it was a bed of roses,” the actor told Out magazine.
“But with the gift of time and grace, my parents chose love. And I think it’s important for people to know that.”
9. He does a lot of research for his roles.
Before he took on the role of expert con-man, Neal Caffrey, in White Collars , he got inspiration for his character from several movies.
This included Oceans Eleven , Catch Me If You Can , and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off .
10. He doesn’t like talking about his personal life.
“My favorite actors are people who I don’t know anything about, and I can project any character onto them,” he told Elle .
“They focus on their work and then go live their lives with the people they love.”
11. He said that coming out as gay cost him roles.
He spoke to Attitude about the “tradeoff” that comes with being “out” in the public eye.
“I came out at a time when it was very risky to do so – I had a studio film that was about to premiere, and a television series coming out.”
“But to me it was more important to be my almost authentic self, both for my family, and for myself.”
He continued:
“But to say that didn’t cost me certain things in my career would be a lie. It did. To me that trade-off was worth it. But it hasn’t been some fairy tale — no pun intended.”
12. Being a father to three children has completely changed his life.
“[It] just changed everything. There’s a level of love that really dissolves a lot of egotism and self-absorption,” he told Out magazine.
“Now it’s a small part of a day that also includes a drop-off at school in the morning and baseball practice and a lot of other things that take precedence.”
13. He faced a lot of flack for his role in *Anything*.
That’s because he portrayed a trans sex worker — a role that people said should have gone to an actual transgender individual.
The social media controversy got so intense that Boomer had to block one of his naysayers on Twitter.
14. He was only eight when his father introduced him to guns.
This was not unusual for someone growing up in a gun-toting state.
“I got a .30-30 for Christmas in the seventh grade. It wasn’t what I asked for, by the way. And it wasn’t my only present,” he told Men’s Journal .
Since his dad was an avid hunter, he also got involved in the sport.
“It’s nothing that I’ve elected to do in my adult life,” he said about hunting ducks and birds.
“In Texas, it’s a way for men to bond together. I was down with that when I lived there, and I haven’t really done it since.”
15. He once lost 40 pounds for a role.
This was for his role in The Normal Heart as a reporter who withers away after contracting HIV.
To get the weight down safely, he worked with a medical professional.
But that doesn’t mean that his weight loss program was exactly healthy.
He won’t even tell people what his diet was because he told Men’s Journal that “you can die. When I finished, my testosterone levels were the same as a female’s.”
