Chely Wright Ready to Revisit Coming-Out Through Documentary Film

Chely Wright says she's emotionally prepared to next week take her first look at the documentary 'Wish Me Away,' which chronicles her coming-out in 2010.

Award-winning filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf, who also made 'Be Real: Stories from Queer America,' which aired on LOGO, spent three years chronicling Chely's life starting with her preparations to make her lesbianism public. The film opportunity presented itself by happenstance as Chely prepared to release her book 'Like Me Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer.'

"I was in a New York book meeting [and the man I met with] had a poster in his office for the show, 'Be Real,' Chely tells the Boot. "I had seen 'Be Real' the year before and just laid on the floor in my Nashville home, held my belly and cried, partly out of just feeling it and partly just feeling I'd never be free like that."

When Chely indicated how much she loved the series and noted she had kept video diaries while she worked on her book, her contact arranged a meeting for her with the filmmakers.

"I thought they'd help me gather my thoughts and compile my video diaries," says Chely. "It turned into them saying 'We want to make a feature film about you.'

Now that she has prepared herself emotionally to revisit that turbulent time of her life, Chely says she'll see the film.

"I'm nervous to see it really. I know how open I was and I know it will certainly show the dynamic experience from when I decided to come out and when I did come out and shortly after that," she says. "It's exciting and it's really terrifying."

Chely's next scheduled concert is January 21 in Alexandria, Va. For a complete list of dates and venues, check here.

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