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AS Russell Tovey comes to grips with being one of the most visible LGBTI actors in the industry, he is also finding his place in the gay world.

Is he an otter, a bear or something else?

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to being a daddy. Some people say I could be a dad, I鈥檓 nearly 35 so, I could鈥檝e fathered children, so I technically could be a dad,鈥� he says.

鈥淚 really don鈥檛 know where I fit in, I鈥檓 over being a twink. Could I be an otter? Maybe I鈥檓 too old to be an otter. I鈥檓 not hairy enough to be a bear.

鈥淭here鈥檚 all different animals, there鈥檚 polar bears, there鈥檚 otters, seal. I鈥檒l be the billy goat. It鈥檚 quite fun isn鈥檛 it?

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I particularly identify with a particular subculture鈥� I like to just go down to the pub with my friends and my family and have my dog on my lap and I鈥檓 happy.

Describing himself as vanilla in his social life, Tovey also doesn鈥檛 want to come across as boring.

鈥淵ou can say Russell Tovey, king of the 鈥榖illy goat gays鈥�,鈥� he says.

鈥淭hat would be great if we can start a trend with that, just put a hashtag next to it.鈥�

Tovey, 34, shot to prominence in his role as werewolf in the British series Being Human, and HBO鈥檚 Looking about a group of gay men living in San Francisco.

When Tovey came out about 10 years ago his career took off. After Looking he landed a role in ABC鈥檚 FBI drama Quantico where he plays a gay spy, and next year will play the lead role in the iconic play Angels in America on London鈥檚 West End.

鈥淭he best thing I ever did was come out and it seems my career has blossomed off the back of it, everything I do is a lot of characters that are testing the water, they aren鈥檛 gay for gay鈥檚 sake,鈥� he said.

鈥淭hey are dynamic incredibly inspiring roles that are very LGBTI and this definitely all comes from me identifying as gay myself, and I think it has not in any way held me back.

鈥淭he thoughts did go through my head when I was growing up of course when everything was starting to happen. 鈥楧o I keep this quiet, do I be really careful with this, do I keep it private?鈥�

鈥淏ut I love my life outside of work, I鈥檓 incredibly lucky I鈥檝e got amazing friends, great family, everything鈥檚 brilliant, I love my dog.鈥�

That is not to say Tovey鈥檚 life as a high profile gay actor has not come without its controversies. Last year he came under fire for comments he made in an interview with the The Guardian鈥檚 The Observer column that he was glad he did not go to a theatre high school because it would have made him 鈥渢oo effeminate鈥�, resulting in social media branding him 鈥渢he worst gay ever鈥�.

But he says he has learnt from his mistakes and feels privileged to be part of the 鈥渟pecial club鈥� of openly LGBTI actors 鈥� including his Looking co-star Jonathan Groff 鈥� who are revolutionising the way rainbow characters are displayed in film and television.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a total honour, I feel like I鈥檓 part of a special club, it鈥檚 great. I鈥檓 embracing that. I love it, I鈥檓 having a brilliant time,鈥� he explains.

鈥淚s there pressure? Not anymore. I think I鈥檝e learnt from my mistakes or trying to be some grown up and work out how to do this.鈥�

With his new film The Pass, Tovey wants to play a trick on unsuspecting cinemagoers.

The English actor wants soccer obsessed fans to go into it thinking it鈥檚 a testosterone fuelled sports romp, a masculine tale about the world sport.

When in fact, it is a deeply moving film told in three parts about a soccer player who as a superstar of the game has to navigate through the turmoil of suppressing his obvious homosexuality while fostering his burgeoning sports career.

鈥淚 would love it if someone goes in thinking it鈥檚 the next hooligan movie and they鈥檙e like, 鈥榳oah, what are we watching鈥�,鈥� he tells 17c起草社区.

鈥淭hat for me would be brilliant and yet they stay to the end.

鈥淥r they come across it, flicking through Netflix in a few years from now and they鈥檙e like, 鈥榦oh this looks like a football movie鈥�, without reading the synopsis and unbeknownst to them, they鈥檙e like 鈥榳oah, hang on. Where鈥檚 the violence?鈥�

The Pass will be making its Australian premiere as the headline film of next year鈥檚 Mardi Gras Film Festival after garnering rave reviews at festivals around the world.

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Three of the actors in The Pass, including Tovey, reprise their roles from the stage production. By the time it came to shooting, the actors had an intimate knowledge of their characters which allowed them to add detailed nuances to their characters.

鈥淩ussell in particular had developed a labyrinthine understanding of Jason and his complexities,鈥� director Ben Williams says.

鈥淭his allowed us to experiment while shooting with hundreds of improvised flourishes, many of which ended up in the final cut. 聽

鈥淗is technique is among the finest I’ve ever seen. He’s a smart, hilarious and incredibly gifted actor.鈥�

Shot in three hotel rooms with no more than three actors gives the movie an almost claustrophobic intensity to it, leaving viewers on a precipice of emotions not knowing when and if, Jason will eventually snap under the pressure of continually suppressing his sexuality.

For Williams shooting in such confined spaces was the only way to convey Jason鈥檚 internal conflict.

鈥淭o me, a film about a man trapped inside himself could only be shot in this way,鈥� he explains. 聽

鈥淲e begin each scene with a sense of space and air, and then gradually ratchet up the tension, leaning in to each conversation. 聽Soon, all you experience is faces and their emotions, and then the story sweeps you away. 聽It’s intense and relentless, and you can’t look away.

鈥淚’ve always been fascinated by the idea that a life can be determined by just one or two key conversations and that everything else is just the build-up or the fallout.

鈥淲e’re present for these moments in Jason’s life. 聽On the surface, it’s just people talking.

鈥淏ut below, deep within John’s (Donnelly) writing and our cast’s incredible performances, lives are being irreparably changed before your eyes.鈥�

The subject of homophobia in sport has not been explored in great detail by the art world, according to Tovey, who says the topic is one of the 鈥渓ast taboos鈥� and he can understand why his character does not want to come out.

鈥淲hen you go to the matches, you鈥檙e getting gladiatorial. It goes back to the Dark Ages; it鈥檚 all about who鈥檚 the strongest and the fittest that you are supporting, you want to get on the side that鈥檚 going to bring you the most meat back,鈥� he explains.

鈥淲hat is important is the game, that鈥檚 the only thing that is important. You are trained and you are blinkered for that.

鈥淭hat is your destination and that is the track you stay on and any deviation, especially if it means you鈥檙e gay, I鈥檓 sure it has to remains hidden.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why it’s doing to take a very incredible brave, wonderful man to stand forward while playing premiership football, to come forward and be like 鈥榟ey by the way guys, I鈥檓 gay鈥�.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a ground breaking historical wonderful day. It鈥檚 also going to be equally terrifying if they鈥檙e still playing football.鈥�

Tovey hopes to get time off from rehearsing Angels in America to come to Sydney for MGFF, to return to the city he has become familiar over the years when he worked here on History Boys and the BBC drama Banished, but a place he can鈥檛 believe still does not have marriage equality.

鈥淚 love it there. I love the Stonewall bar,鈥� he says.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 crazy (that marriage equality is not legal), I鈥檝e spent a lot of time in Sydney鈥� it is baffling to me that literally somewhere that is the gay destination, that is the king and queen of Mardi Gras the world over, would still be in the situation it is.

鈥淚t feels like you guys would be the bastions and you would be ahead of it before anyone else.

鈥淏ut you are going to get it there.鈥�

The Mardi Gras Film Festival聽is on February 15 – March 2, 2017.