THE TV AWARD

Ben Aldridge

BEN ALDRIDGE IS TAKING A SIGNIFICANT STEP FOR GAY MEN ON TELEVISION WITH HIS NEW LEAD ROLE AS A QUEER DETECTIVE IN ITV’S GROUND-BREAKING CRIME DRAMA, THE LONG CALL, MAKING HIM THE WORTHY WINNER OF OUR TV AWARD — CASE CLOSED

Words John Dunning

Ben wears tank top, by Boss, trousers, by Marni at MATCHESFASHION, necklace, Ben’s own

Photography Dean Ryan McDaid Fashion director Joseph Kocharian

Until last year, Ben Aldridge was a romantic lead who’d stolen the hearts of viewers across the UK and beyond with roles in Our Girl and the global phenomenon that is Fleabag. He was also playing Batman’s father Thomas Wayne in the hit show Pennyworth. The future looked bright. But something wasn’t sitting right with him…

On World Pride Day last June, he came out publicly. “I did an Instagram post that I’d spent the morning thinking about. It had been circulating in my brain for a very long time that I wanted to address it. It was a very simple way to just express who I am.”

It hadn’t been an easy path to reach this place. His burgeoning success made it a particularly dangerous move for him careerwise, and some even advised against it.

“I was told by some people that coming out would ruin things,” admits Aldridge, citing Rupert Everett, who once stated that coming out ruined his career. “I was very fearful. But I just got to a point where I needed to claim that for myself; it wasn’t so much about coming out as it was about claiming who I am and being honest about that.”

Career trajectory aside, it was a complex decision in other ways. “I just felt at odds with this interpretation of me; in Fleabag and Our Girl, I played these really straight parts,” explains Aldridge. “I think there’s something to be said for the notion that we shouldn’t know everything about an actor, and that the more we know about an actor, the less you believe them in certain roles.