Los Angeles, May 3 (IANS): Actor Matt Bomer attributes his acting skills in part to years of hiding his sexuality.

The 39-year-old told actor Andrew Rannells in an interview with OUT Magazine about how difficult it was to come out to his family and how his big secret taught him how to be a better performer, reports etonline.com.

"One of the ways I learned how to act, really, is by having secrets, and having to function as a kid in a public school in suburban Bible Belt Texas," Bomer said.

"Subsequently I worked on a gas pipeline with my brother for a while - there were ex-cons with us. It was not an environment where it was safe to be gay."

The actor, who came out in February 2012, explained that he grew up in a conservative Christian household and received months of silence from his parents after he told them he was gay.

"Telling your family is a huge, huge deal. I really view my life as divided between the time before I told my parents, and the time after," he said.

"And the decisions I made, and the life I lived, before and after, are vastly different. It's night and day."