Tramell Tillman has opened up about the first time he came out to his mother.
In a cover interview with Variety, the Severance star recalled that, in his twenties, he and his mother took a road trip to visit his grandmother for the holiday season.
During the drive, he told her: “Mom, I’m bisexual.”
According to the publication, his mother stayed laser-focused on the road, a ‘flicker of surprise crossing her face’, before breaking the silence with: “Well, how’s that going for you?”
“Some years later,” Tillman clarified to her that he actually identified as gay.
She responded with concern about how his sexuality might affect his career, telling him: “I don’t want you to be blackballed. I don’t want you to be pigeonholed.”
“Anyone you bring home,” she added, “I will embrace him as my son.”
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Since 2022, Tillman has starred as Seth Milchick in Apple TV’s sci-fi thriller Severance, earning universal critical acclaim and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — making history as the first openly gay Black man to receive the honour.
When asked if it feels “weighty” to potentially win — as the category has never crowned a Black entertainer — Tillman replied: “No. I feel honoured to join the legacy of these incredible storytellers.
“I’m ambitious and would love an Emmy, but I’ve learned it’s not up to me.”
Alongside the second season of Severance, Tillman made his action-blockbuster debut this year in Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning, currently the sixth highest-grossing film of 2025.
He is also set to star opposite Natalie Portman and Mark Ruffalo in the rom-com Good Sex (2027), as well as the action film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (TBA) alongside Mahershala Ali and John Cho.
Read Tramell Tillman’s cover interview with Variety here.
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