Sean Hayes

Sean Hayes is an Emmy Award-winning actor who played Jack McFarland — flamboyant, joyful, and unapologetically gay — on Will & Grace (NBC, 1998–2006; 2017–2020), one of the most prominent and culturally influential gay characters in American sitcom history. Despite near-universal public assumption throughout the show's original run, Hayes did not come out publicly until a 2010 interview with The Advocate, saying he had simply chosen to be a private person. He married musician Scott Icenogle in 2014 in a ceremony attended by his Will & Grace co-stars. Hayes returned to Broadway with Good Night, Oscar (2023), earning a Tony nomination for his portrayal of Oscar Levant, and has spoken in interviews about the psychological cost of being a private gay person while playing such a visible gay character during a pivotal era for LGBTQ+ rights.