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Matt Damon Clarifies His Thoughts On Gay Actors Staying In The Closet

"It's painful when things get said that you don't believe."

Matt Damon is officially circling back on those controversial comments he made to The Guardian on Sunday (September 27); comments that many felt encouraged gay actors to stay in the closet.

“I think it must be really hard for actors to be out publicly,” Damon said. “But in terms of actors, I think you’re a better actor the less people know about you, period. And sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether you’re straight or gay, people shouldn’t know anything about your sexuality because that’s one of the mysteries that you should be able to play.”

Damon listed Rupert Everett ("My Best Friend's Wedding") as an example as a gay actor who has taken "a hit" for being out, but lucky for Damon, he had an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" -- a woman who most definitely has not suffered greatly in recent years for being openly gay -- in the books where he could clarify his true feelings on the issue.

"In this day and age, I said this thing to The Guardian, and it got turned into... I was just trying to say actors are more effective when they're a mystery," Damon explained, after mentioning that the reason he commented on the issue was because of his relationship with Ben Affleck. "Somebody picked it up and said I said gay actors should get back in the closet. Which is like, I mean, it's stupid. It's painful when things get said that you don't believe, and then it gets represented that that's what you believe, because in the blogosphere, there's no real penalty for just taking the ball and running with it. You're just trying to get people to click on to your things."

DeGeneres herself seemed grateful for Damon's clarifications, though only time will tell what the "blogosphere" has to say about taking the blame.

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