Wentworth Miller Reveals Dark Struggle Over Sexuality

Wentworth Miller tried to commit suicide multiple times because he couldn't handle keeping his sexual identity a secret, the actor revealed during a Human Rights Campaign Dinner on September 7.

The former Prison Break star, who recently came out as gay, recounted his first attempt at suicide when he was 15 because he couldn't handle keeping his sexual identity a secret.

"The first time I tried to kill myself I was 15. I waited till my family went away for the weekend and I was alone in the house and I swallowed a bottle of pills," Miller tells the audience in a video posted on TMZ.

"I don't remember what happened over the next couple of days but I'm pretty sure come Monday morning I was on the bus back to school pretending everything was fine."

"And when someone asked me if that was a cry for help, I say no, because I told no one," the British actor also told the audience, adding that the incident wasn't isolated or a cry for help simply because "you only cry for help if there is help to cry for."

The actor described doing press tours while on the hit drama Prison Break as closeted gay man and recalled the numerous interviews where he did not speak out. "I had multiple opportunities to speak my truth, which was that I was gay," he said. "But I chose not to. I was out in private, to family and friends ... but professionally, publicly, I was not."

He said: "Every day was a test and there were a thousand ways to fail, a thousand ways to betray yourself, to not live up to someone else's standard of what was acceptable or what was normal," he says.

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The 41-year-old actor opened up about his sexuality for the first time last month as he took a stand against Russia's recent anti-gay legislation by refusing to attend the St. Petersburg International Film Festival in an open letter.

Wentworth also told guests at the dinner that decided to confirm he was gay because he wants to be a role model for others, "to be the someone else, that no one was to me."

Support is available for anyone who may be distressed by calling Lifeline 131 114, Mensline 1300 789 978, Kids Helpline 1800 551 800.

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