When Bridgerton star Golda Rosheuvel was starting out as an actor, a lesbian director told her that in order to succeed in the industry, she shouldn’t reveal her sexuality, according to Variety. The actor, who is openly gay, recounted the advice she received while on the Just for Variety podcast.
“We were talking about being out and proud and representation and whether I should say I was gay in interviews,” Rosheuvel said in the episode. “And it was an absolute no — ‘You absolutely shouldn’t do that. It could or it would ruin your career as an actor.'”
“I would rather lose a job than not be true to who I am. I’d rather not work in an industry that doesn’t accept me. … It just wasn’t how I was raised. And then her being out as a female director, as a lesbian director, I was like, ‘I don’t understand this advice.’ It blew my mind,” she recalled.
She ultimately didn’t take the director’s advice. The actor, who portrays Queen Charlotte in the Netflix hit Bridgerton, said she’s navigated her career as an out gay woman and is proud of herself.
“I’m out and proud,” she said. “My sexuality is really important to me in terms of existing, knowing that I’m important. I’m as important as anyone on the planet. Do you know what I mean? My partner [writer Shireen Mula] always says, ‘The mere fact that you’re on the screen. The mere fact that you’re in ‘Bridgerton’ as a Black, biracial, cis-gender, lesbian playing the first Black queen of England. The fact that you’re there is immense.'”
Rosheuvel was recently honored at this year’s Human Rights Campaign gala in New York. She was presented with the Equality Award. Prior to accepting her award, she told Variety that staying true to who she is is something that she’s committed to in her life.
“Being authentic and true to who I am has been something that I’ve championed in my own life, so to be able to get up there tonight and speak my journey is really important,” she said, according to the outlet. “That one person who’s struggling might hear it and be confident enough to step [up] in their own life.”
In her acceptance speech, she noted that “nobody should have to choose between being publicly out and being a successful actor.”
Rosheuvel is gearing up to continue her success in Bridgerton with a new spinoff show. The focus will be on her character’s back story, Tudum reports. The new show will follow a young Queen Charlotte’s love story with King George and her struggles with adjusting to her new appointment.
