The two male leads in "Mean Girls" struggled with publicly coming out as gay after the release of the 2004 Lindsay Lohan flick, and now reveal that their teams advised them to keep their sexual orientation top secret.

Jonathan Bennett and Daniel Franzese just recorded a live episode of “The Night Time Show Podcast” hosted by actor/comedian Stephen Kramer Glickman at the Hollywood Improv and spoke about their life experiences with being gay in Hollywood.

Franzese said he originally planned to use the movie as his moment to come out as a gay man, but says his reps and family advised him it would be a bad idea. He says 2004 was a different time for queer people in the entertainment industry, and that the roles offered to gay men were all very stereotypical. Franzese, who just broke up with his fiancé, says before playing Damian Leigh he was auditioning for tons of masculine roles, including Turtle on "Entourage," but afterwards he was only given gay characters.

Bennett has a similar story, but said after he played Lindsay Lohan's boyfriend Aaron Samuels his people emphatically told him to stay in the closet and lock the door. He looks back now and laughs, but says it was a very tough time.

As far as Franzese and Bennet discovering the truth about each other's sexual orientation during the filming of "Mean Girls," they explain "unicorns" are able to recognize their own.?

Daniel Franzese

Male Stars of 'Mean Girls' Claim They Were Told to Stay in the Closet By Their Reps & Family When Film Opened