'Guardians of the Galaxy' Actor Lee Pace: 'I've Dated Men. I've Dated Women'

Those pesky gay rumors won't stop swirling around actor Lee Pace, known for big screen roles like the elf king he portrayed in "The Hobbit" movies and the heavy he portrayed in "Guardians of the Galaxy," as well as his roles on small-screen fare like "Pushing Daisies," a cult series created by out producer Bryan Fuller, and "Halt and Catch Fire," where Pace played a bisexual tech pioneer.

Pace is also no stranger to Broadway, and to gay stage roles like the one he took in "The Normal Heart" and his upcoming turn as closeted gay Mormon character Joe Pitt in the much-anticipated revival of "Angels in America."

But all of that is fiction, and Pace paid to play those parts. What about the man himself? In an interview with "W" Magazine, Pace gave voice to the sentiment that gay characters ought to be portrayed by gay people, but then he seemingly did a quick 180 when asked whether that opinion extended to his own roles.

"I've dated men. I've dated women," Pace told "W." "I don't know why anyone would care. I'm an actor and I play roles. To be honest, I don't know what to say - I find your question intrusive."

The actor, who is single and lives by himself on a farm in upstate New York, didn't talk about relationships other than to suggest that he hasn't currently got one.

"There are times that I've been up there, very isolated, and thought, 'How is this your life? What are you doing? Why are you in this place? You're living like a retired person and you're 37, 38 years old,' " he disclosed to "W."

The media quickly zeroed in on Pace's prickliness around the question and recalled that he had, at one point, been rumored to have been in a relationship with another male actor, Richard Armitage.

"Hobbit" co-star Ian McKellen famously stirred up speculation in an interview with a German publication, brash.de, in which the much-admired British star spoke about the progress that openly LGBTQ thesps made even between the filming of the first sprawling Tolkein-sourced trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings," and the subsequent "Hobbit" features. According to McKellen, "The Hobbit" boasted a number of gay actors, whereas he was the sole out member of the "Rings" ensemble. McKellen referred to Pace as one of them.

While not exactly an out and out emergence from the closet, Pace's admission of having dated people of both genders drew praise from "People" Magazine for his having "opened up," though "People" also recalled how the actor sidestepped the question when talking to Buzzfeed in 2014. "Who cares about people's personal lives?" Pace said at that time. "I mean, honestly. How are you then able to disappear into a role?"

Of course, Pace's dancing around the issue doesn't necessarily mean he's gay. As Tom Hardy put it in a 2010 interview when he was asked whether he'd had sex with men, "Of course I have. I'm an actor, for fuck's sake."