‘Gotham’s’ Riddler actor comes out as gay

Cory Michael Smith

Cory Michael Smith, who plays The Riddler in the Batman prequel series “Gotham,” has come out as gay while promoting the film “1985,” about a homosexual man who is suffering from AIDS, and has to come home to a conservative family.

“There’s something special about telling a story that feels closer to home,” Smith recently told The Daily Beast. “I’m not exactly like The Riddler in real life. I’m from Middle America. I’m from Ohio. I’ve been living here [in New York] for a while, and there are stretches when I don’t see my family often. Going home and that whole charade is very familiar. The first family dinner after a while. Coming out to a family, the fear of that.”

Smith, 31, related that his own coming-out to his parents was met with “a lot of love,” but it took “a lot of time.”—OLIVER PULUMBARIT