Gay actor Russell Tovey has apologised after causing outrage for saying he was glad he did n't go to a drama school because its students are 'effeminate ' and 'prance around ' . Tovey , who plays a British convict deported to Australia in the upcoming BBC drama Banished , made the comments when discussing how the school his father forced him to attend helped 'toughen ' him up . The 33-year-old 's remarks outraged many and were criticised as 'disparaging ' and helping to 'divide the gay community and propagate hate ' . Scroll down for video . Actor Russell Tovey ( pictured ) has been criticised for saying he was glad he did n't attend drama school where students are 'effeminate ' and 'prance around ' Tovey ( pictured far left ) with his co-stars in the 2006 film The History Boys , which was based on a successful Broadway play . Tovey , who has previously said he came out to his parents when he was 18 , began his career as a child actor but received fame for his role in the Broadway play and subsequent film The History Boys alongside James Corden . He went on to star in a series of BBC dramas , such as Being Human , Him and Her and most recently Banished , while he is also well known to American audiences for his role as a gay man in the HBO series Looking . During an interview with The Observer at the weekend , he spoke of how disappointed he was as a teenager when his father refused to allow him to attend the famed Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone , London . But he claimed that in retrospect this was a good thing because the school he did attend forced him to 'toughen up ' . He said : ' I feel like I could have been really effeminate , if I had n't gone to the school I went to . 'If I 'd have been able to relax , prance around , sing in the street , I might be a different person now . ' I thank my dad for that , for not allowing me to go down that path . ' He added that his upbringing gave him unique acting qualities and there were not many actors who audiences were OK with playing straight or gay characters . But the comments were quickly seized upon , with Australian actor Brendan Maclean stating there was 'nothing unique about internalised homophobia ' and liberal ThinkProgress editor Zack Ford saying he was 'disappointed ' to see Tovey 'disparaging effeminate guys ' . Actor Russell Tovey posted a series of tweets yesterday ( pictured ) in which he apologised and backtracked on the comments , claiming they had been misunderstood . Another wrote that such statements 'divide the gay community and propagate hate towards us by others ' . Tovey responded yesterday with a series of tweets in which he claimed to 'raise the white flag ' . He wrote : 'If you feel I have personally let you down I 'm sorry , that was never my intention . ' I 'm proud to be who I am and proud for others . We 're in this together , I want you to know whatever you think I meant , I did n't . ' I 'm gon na ride this out , and one day we will all look back on this moment with a half smile of fascination and satisfaction . '
Russell lord , 33 , said ' effeminate ' high school students ' prance around ' He added he was glad he went to a drama school in order to ' toughen up ' His comments at the weekend were condemned by many on social media . lord has now posted a series of tweets calling for his comments . The gay ##lord is the star of The History Boys , Being Human and Looking .