United Kingdom, May 30 -- Ryan Phillippe was "afraid" to play a gay character early on in his career.

The 50-year-old actor - who was previously married to his 'Cruel Intentions' co-star Reese Witherspoon and has Ava, 25, as well as 21-year-old Deacon with her - took on the role of Billy Douglas on the soap opera 'One Life To Live' in the early 1990s but had reservations about playing a homosexual when the world was in such a "different" place.

He told People: "I was so young that there were elements of me that were afraid because it was such a different time.

"I think there were some fears associated with the point in time that we were at and it being before so many walls and ceilings have been broken in that regard.

"But I know that...