Dynasty Star Gordon Thomson Comes Out

Though it's been 28 years since Dynasty finished its original run and cemented itself as a network soap opera classic, now, just ahead of a reboot release, actor Gordon Thomson has come out. Thomson, who was one of the most recognizable faces of 80s primetime TV playing the villainous Adam Carrington on the series, spoke with The Daily Beast on why he waited so long.

Related | 15 Essential TV Shows To Watch This Fall

"It's not something I've ever announced," Thomson said, "I'm assuming that people know, and now that I'm my age that's fine. I don't go out of my way because it's my generation, I think. I'm probably as homophobic as any gay man alive because of my background." Of course the 80s was hardly a friendly decade for the nation's LGBTQ community, with a mystery disease claiming the lives of gay men before it was identified as AIDS.

Related | 5 Shameless Things to Look Forward to in the DynastyReboot

"When I was growing up it [homosexuality] was a crime, and then classified as a mental illness," he said. "So you're dealing with that. And the shame, the breathtaking lack of self-esteem, has only just begun to seep out of my soul."

The CW's reboot of Dynasty will do away with homophobic storylines inherent in the original, having Steven Carrington (Adam's brother) embraced by his family, instead of being ostracized for being gay. Despite obvious strides, Thomson still thinks Hollywood has plenty of progress to make. When a recent role saw him playing the father of the hero character, he still felt uncomfortable opening up to castmastes. "The vibe on that set--sorry I hate that word but that's what it was--was so heterosexual," Thomson said of the original show's production. "I didn't want to say, 'Guess what everybody, the guy playing the father is gay.' If I had there would have been a slight shift away which I wasn't ready to deal with." Read the full Daily Beast interview, here, and catch The CW's Dynasty reboot October 11.