2024 Rewind: See Why Fans Went Wild When Lee Pace Shared Poolside 45th Birthday Pic

It is on the stage where Pace has shaped his profile of queer roles. In 2009 he appeared in the first Broadway production of Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart" as gay activist Bruce Niles; then, in 2018, he played the closeted Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt in the Royal National Theatre's remounting of "Angels in America" that featured Andrew Garfield as Prior Walter.

Throughout his career Pace created boundaries in speaking of his sexuality. "It was a real strategy to draw boundaries," Pace told the New York Times in 2018: "I believe very firmly that my work is the reason we're talking, and my personal life is something I want to protect."

Pace didn't come out – he was mistakenly outed by his "Hobbit" co-star Ian McKellan in 2014. Pace has never commented on this incident.

But, the Times reported, Pace became flustered when questioned by a W Magazine reporter who inquired about his sexuality a few months earlier. that he thought gay actors should play gay roles, but when that question was turned on him personally, "stopped short of labeling himself. He seemed a bit flustered and surprised by the question. 'I've dated men. I've dated women,' he explained. 'I don't know why anyone would care. I'm an actor and I play roles. To be honest, I don't know what to say – I find your question intrusive.'"

Pace clarified his remarks in a series of tweets, writing: "In a recent phone interview, I was asked questions that I wasn't expecting and found myself momentarily at a loss for the right words. My privacy is important to me, so I protect it. When interviewed by the media, I keep the focus on my work.

"As a member of the queer community, I understand the importance of living openly, being counted, and happily owning who I am. That's how I've always lived my life... just as it's been important to me to portray queer characters with dignity for my entire career: A Soldier's Girl (Showtime. 2003). The Normal Heart (Broadway. 2011). Halt and Catch Fire (AMC. 2014-2017). Angels in America. (Broadway. NOW.) Onward, with Pride."

"The positive response to his tweets – thousands of likes, many comments and now, regular references to them at the stage door after the show – has assured him that he made the right decision, though the old habit of reticence died hard," wrote the Times.

"The truth is," he said at his apartment, "when you grow up queer, you get tough. And perceptive. And you learn how to field it. When someone comes at you that you don't know, interested in that area of your life, it's not always a good thing. I certainly knew that when I was a kid."