OHMYGOSSIP — Nathaniel Hall contracted HIV the first time he had sex, when he was 16 years old.
The 34-year-old actor is currently starring as Donald Bassett – the boyfriend of Olly Alexander’s character Ritchie Tozer – in ‘It’s A Sin’, Russell T. Davies’ Channel 4 drama.The show tells of the HIV/Aids crisis during the 1980s, and is personal to Nathaniel as he contracted the virus at the age of 16 after a whirlwind romance with an older man.He recalled: “It was like being hit by a truck. I was told at the time that I had a prognosis of 37 years. That was so hard to hear, to have a date on it.”
The star decided to keep his diagnosis a secret from his family and was living with “fear and stigma”.
He told Attitude magazine: “I was living with so much fear and stigma, self-hatred and shame.”
Nathaniel decided to make the best of his diagnosis by getting into activism and performing a one-man show ‘First Time’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
He also wrote his family and friends a letter about his HIV status and his relatives have now all seen the show.
Nathaniel explained: “I wrote them a letter because I couldn’t bear the thought of having to do it face to face.
“I knew they were going to be supportive, but that was the power of the shame.”
Olly recently recalled how the cast of ‘It’s A Sin were “all in tears” during the first script read-through.
He said: “It was emotional on set. On the day we met at the read-through we were all in tears reading it.
“Then rehearsals and filming were emotional. But we had the best time.”
Source: VacationHunter.Online
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