The PEN15 Club

As usual, let me preface this item by saying that I have no idea if Jamie Bell is actually gay or straight or whatever. But now that he’s 19 and starring in movies like King Kong, the young actor most famous for bringing The Dance to a Thatcher-era British mining town in Billy Elliot is going to have to plant his flag on one side of the sexuality fence. You know, for magazine-profile and press-junket purposes.

But this interview in The Guardian suggests that Bell - who has politely sidestepped the whole teen-awkward-stage thing and could grace the cover of GQ tomorrow - actively wants to start rumors about his own sexuality. He lists the three most important people in his life as his mother (sweet), Billy Elliot and The Hours director Stephen Daldry (who was openly gay and then married a woman) and (DING!) “my best mate from up north, he’s like my soul mate, my brother, and he’s just started drama school in Mountview. We are each other’s mentor. He gives me what I need and I give him what he needs.”

Yowza. Jamie sounds like, um, a really good friend. And later, Bell stumbles through the most awkward round of The Pronoun Game this side of a CSI cast party:

Bell: No, actually, I think I wear my heart on my sleeve in real relationships. I haven’t got a girlfriend at the moment.

Guardian: Are you missing that?

Bell: The companionship, yes. But I’m not really looking. I’m a believer that something will find me; a person will just come and connect.

Guardian: What kind of person do you believe you will connect with?

Bell: I don’t really have a list of attributes that they’d have to attain.

Guardian: Well, what would you like from a relationship? Do you want to give love or receive more?

Bell: I like to protect and provide, though if it was not reciprocated I would feel incredibly vulnerable. I often find myself giving and also find myself needing.

Clearly the reporter is teasing the poor lad, asking him if he wants to give or receive more. But hey, look at Bell’s answer. At least he’s versatile.

Bell de Jour [The Guardian]