Shortly before he came out as gay in 2006, Lance Bass was in talks to film the pilot episode of a new sitcom at the CW. But when the news broke, the singer shared on a recent appearance on the podcast Politickin, certain opportunities started slipping away — including the show.
“They were like, ‘We can’t do the show anymore. Like, they have to believe that you’re straight to play a straight character,’” Bass said. He recalled hearing other Hollywood figures share similar sentiments. “Every casting director I knew, they’re like, ‘Lance, we can’t cast you because you’re too famous for being gay now that they can’t look at you as anything other than that,’” he added. “So, I lost everything.”
Bass was already exploring his options as an actor before NSYNC began their hiatus after Celebrity. He appeared in the film Longshot in 2000, On the Line in 2001, and Love Wrecked in 2005. He also appeared on an episode of 7th Heaven. But he wasn’t exactly establishing a launch pad for his post-boy band career. He didn’t think he needed to.
“I was confused for sure. I was such a young person. And all I knew was NSYNC,” he said. “That was my world, and I was happy that was my world. I thought that was going to be my world the rest of my life. When we decided that the group was no longer, it was very confusing for me because I didn’t know where I belonged and I wasn’t really setting myself up for success because I was just waiting. It took awhile to figure out who I was and where I needed to go.”
Bass added that he isn’t holding grudges against anyone, but reflected on the fear he felt as he prepared to come out. Bass appeared on the cover of People in July 2006, with a tagline that read: “I’m Gay.” The singer went straight to the press when he thought hovering paparazzi would feed into the speculation about his sexuality, which could have led to him being outed.
“All the examples I’ve ever had of anyone coming out, especially in entertainment, was that it’s a career killer,” he said on the podcast. And it wasn’t exactly, but he did get the impression that people no longer knew what to do with him. What followed was a full “restart and rebrand.”
Since those early filmography entries, the majority of Bass’ film and television gigs have been voice roles or cameo appearances as himself. The singer noted that some of the casting directors who pivoted to other talent options have apologized to him in the years since, expressing regret over their decisions. “They’ve actually cast me in a lot of things since which is really funny and ironic,” he said.