Listen: Out Actor Jim Parsons on Gay Rom-Com 'Spoiler Alert'

Only weeks after Billy Eichner's gay rom-com "Bros" flopped at the box office, out actor Jim Parsons sees his own entry into the genre, "Spoiler Alert," light up the screen.

Parsons opened up in an interview with Variety's Marc Malkin about sharing the screen with Sally Field, and recalled how frightening it was as a young actor to contemplate being out in Hollywood.

"Spoiler Alert," directed by Michael Showalter, is based on the 2017 memoir by Michael Ausiello, with a screenplay that's co-written by Dan Savage and David Marshall Grant. Parsons serves as a producer on the film.

The "Big Bang Theory" alum appeared on Malkin's "Just for Variety" podcast, recalling how his husband "watched me read [the book], which means he watched me sob through it." Parsons said that his husband suggested it would make for a good film.

Starring as Ausiello, Parsons shares the screen with fellow out actor Ben Aldridge, who plays who portrays Ausiello's late partner, Kit Cowan. The film, like the book, documents the men's relationship. They were a couple from 2001 until Cowan's untimely death, from cancer, in 2015.

Parsons told Malkin that the film is "such a full view of a gay relationship. It was such a full view of two people who really love each other, two souls that come together and go on this journey together, the ups and downs of that, the coming apart and coming back together and, ultimately, being able to really get about as clear a view of another human being as you can possibly get."

Asked about working with Sally Field, who plays Cowan's mother, Parsons admitted, "For as long as I've watched movies, I've admired Sally Field," but added that when they worked together he soon realized that Field was "just an actor. She sits there on set with you, with her dog, and talks about whatever, and that feels really great to meet her, and feel that she's part of your group, and that you're part of her group."

When it came to casting the part of Ausiello's husband, Parsons described how he and Aldridge first met about the film on a Zoom call along with director Michael Showalter.

"I talked for about an hour with him," Parsons recounted, adding, "I thought he was the right person to work with... I couldn't tell you specifically what it was. It was just a way of talking and hearing. There was no stutter step. It was just an immediate understanding, spoke the same language. I thought, 'Well, I guess that's my top candidate.' "

Showalter agreed, and the casting decision was made that quickly – to Parson's surprise; he recalled asking the director, "are you allowed to pull the trigger that fast?"

"He's like, 'Yes,' " Parsons recounted. "I was like, 'Oh, okay, I'm new here.' "

Parsons also spoke about his career more generally, noting, "there are a lot of gay characters that I get offered."

It's a major shift from his early days in the industry. "I grew up in a time where the first thing I think of every time on this topic is when Ellen came out," Parsons said, referring to Ellen DeGeneres' pioneering public acknowledgement of being gay. "It was so exciting.

"As much as it helped ultimately, it was also fucking scary," the star of "The Boys in the Band" and "The Normal Heart" said, referring to his own career before he, too, came out.

"Spoiler Alert" opens in theaters on Dec. 2. Listen to Parsons on the Just for Variety Podcast by following this link.

Watch the film's preview below.