Rupert Everett has become the latest gay star to speak openly about the downside of coming out, revealing he was shunned by Hollywood after he declared he was a homosexual.

The My Best Friend's Wedding star, 51, admits he had to flee Hollywood after his big reveal two decades ago - because no one would hire him.

He tells the BBC, "I just never got a job there (in Hollywood), and I never got a job here (in Britain), after (coming out)... I never had another job here for 10 years, probably, and I moved to Europe."

His comments come just days after veteran Richard Chamberlain went public with his regrets about 'coming out' as a gay man.

The Thorn Birds star has urged gay actors not to follow in his footsteps - insisting his homosexual admission has damaged his career.

The 76-year-old star revealed his homosexuality in his autobiography, Shattered Love, published in 2003 and he recently told gay publication The Advocate the confession wasn't a good career move.

He said, "There's still a tremendous amount of homophobia in our culture. For an actor to be working (at all) is a kind of miracle, because most actors aren't. So it's just silly for a working actor to say, 'Oh, I don't care if anybody knows I'm gay' - especially if you're a leading man.

"Personally, I wouldn't advise a gay leading man-type actor to come out... Despite all the wonderful advances that have been made, it's still dangerous for an actor to talk about that in our extremely misguided culture."