'Will & Grace' Broke Ground for Gay Reprentatn—Can It Do It Aga? | GQ

Contents:

• WILL & GRACE BROKE GROUND FOR GAY REPRENTATN—CAN IT DO IT AGA?
• JACK EXPLAS HOW HE IS A "PLATUM-STAR GAY" IN EXCLIVE NEW CLIP FROM "WILL & GRACE""IT'S ALL HIS BOOK, 'MEN ARE FROM MARS, WHO CAR WHERE WOMEN CAME FROM.'"{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}TVBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHOCTOBER 9, 2017/11:10 {HEIGHT:HER;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;POSN:RELATIVE;-WEBK-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-MS-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-WEBK-ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-ALIGN:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-ALIGN:CENTER;ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-WEBK-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;-MS-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;} IMG{HEIGHT:100%;WIDTH:100%;OBJECT-F:VER;}{HEIGHT:574PX;WIDTH:1020PX;}NBCBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHOCTOBER 9, 2017 / 11:10 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"JACK EXPLAS HOW HE IS A \"PLATUM-STAR GAY\" IN EXCLIVE NEW CLIP FROM \"WILL & GRACE\"","THUMBNAILURL":","DATEPUBLISHED":"2017-10-09T15:10:28.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2017-10-09T15:10:28.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPH","ARTICLESECTN":"TV"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WILL (ERIC MCCORMACK) AND GRACE (DEBRA MSG) HAVE BEEN LIVG TOGETHER OFF AND ON FOR YEARS, AND EVEN THOUGH GRACE ISN'T A NEWER TO THE GAY SCENE, SHE STILL DON'T KNOW EVERY TERM THE GAY HANDBOOK™.{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN AN EXCLIVE NEW CLIP OM THIS WEEK'S EPISO, "EMERGENCY CONTACT," GRACE FORC WILL TO "GAYSPLA" THE TERM "PLATUM-STAR GAY" TO HER. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW, A "GOLD-STAR GAY" IS A GAY MAN WHO HAS NEVER HAD SEX WH A WOMAN—BUT A "PLATUM-STAR GAY," LIKE JACK (SEAN HAY), IS A GAY MAN WHO HAS NEVER EVEN E NTACT WH A VAGA BEE THEY WERE BORN VIA C-SECTN.CHRIS HASTON/NBCWILL & GRACE -- "EMERGENCY CONTACT" EPISO 103 -- PICTURED: (L-R) DEBRA MSG AS GRACE ADLER, HARRY CONNICK JR. AS LEO -- (PHOTO BY CHRIS HASTON/NBC){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE NEW EPISO IS NOTEWORTHY NOT ONLY BEE OF JACK'S REVEAL, BUT ALSO BEE 'S THE RETURN OF GRACE'S EX-HBAND, LEO (HARRY CONNICK JR.), WHO GRACE IS SURPRISED TO LEARN IS STILL HER MEDIL EMERGENCY NTACT. ACRDG TO PHOTOS RELEASED OM THE EPISO, ADDN TO THE RETURN OF LEO, LRA KIGHTLGER IS ALSO BACK AS FAN FAVORE SASSY NURSE SHEILA.CHRIS HASTON/NBCWILL & GRACE -- "EMERGENCY CONTACT" EPISO 103 -- PICTURED: (L-R) LRA KIGHTLGER AS NURSE SHEILA, HARRY CONNICK JR. AS LEO, DEBRA MSG AS GRACE ADLER -- (PHOTO BY CHRIS HASTON/NBC){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}HOW DO GRACE HANDLE HER RNN WH LEO AND WILL JACK EVER E NTACT WH A VAGA? WE ARE PRETTY SURE WE KNOW THE ANSWER TO THE SEND QUTN, BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO TUNE TO WILL & GRACE THIS THURSDAY TO FD OUT WHAT GO DOWN WHEN LEO BACK TO GRACE'S {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WATCH THE EXCLIVE NEW CLIP {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS
• WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY
• 'I WOULDN'T GET THIS ROLE TODAY': WILL & GRACE'S STRAIGHT 'GAY' STAR

WILL & GRACE BROKE GROUND FOR GAY REPRENTATN—CAN IT DO IT AGA?

Everyone remembers the basics: bt iends Will, a gay man, and Grace, a straight woman, live and love Manhattan wh their quirkier iends Jack and Karen. Mutchnick and Eisenberg dated real life, and then beme close iends after Mutchnick revealed he was gay.

She also told Kg that McCormack didn't origally want to play a gay character. Actor Sean Hay, who portrayed openly gay character Jack on Will & Grace, didn't e out real life until five years after the show end.

JACK EXPLAS HOW HE IS A "PLATUM-STAR GAY" IN EXCLIVE NEW CLIP FROM "WILL & GRACE""IT'S ALL HIS BOOK, 'MEN ARE FROM MARS, WHO CAR WHERE WOMEN CAME FROM.'"{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}TVBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHOCTOBER 9, 2017/11:10 {HEIGHT:HER;DISPLAY:-WEBK-BOX;DISPLAY:-WEBK-FLEX;DISPLAY:-MS-FLEXBOX;DISPLAY:FLEX;POSN:RELATIVE;-WEBK-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-MS-FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;FLEX-WRAP:WRAP;-WEBK-ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-ALIGN:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-ALIGN:CENTER;ALIGN-EMS:CENTER;-WEBK-BOX-PACK:CENTER;-WEBK-JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-MS-FLEX-PACK:CENTER;JTIFY-NTENT:CENTER;-WEBK-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;-MS-TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;TRANSFORM-ORIG:CENTER;} IMG{HEIGHT:100%;WIDTH:100%;OBJECT-F:VER;}{HEIGHT:574PX;WIDTH:1020PX;}NBCBY CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPHOCTOBER 9, 2017 / 11:10 AM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"JACK EXPLAS HOW HE IS A \"PLATUM-STAR GAY\" IN EXCLIVE NEW CLIP FROM \"WILL & GRACE\"","THUMBNAILURL":","DATEPUBLISHED":"2017-10-09T15:10:28.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2017-10-09T15:10:28.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","URL":","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"CHRISTOPHER RUDOLPH","ARTICLESECTN":"TV"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WILL (ERIC MCCORMACK) AND GRACE (DEBRA MSG) HAVE BEEN LIVG TOGETHER OFF AND ON FOR YEARS, AND EVEN THOUGH GRACE ISN'T A NEWER TO THE GAY SCENE, SHE STILL DON'T KNOW EVERY TERM THE GAY HANDBOOK™.{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}IN AN EXCLIVE NEW CLIP OM THIS WEEK'S EPISO, "EMERGENCY CONTACT," GRACE FORC WILL TO "GAYSPLA" THE TERM "PLATUM-STAR GAY" TO HER. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW, A "GOLD-STAR GAY" IS A GAY MAN WHO HAS NEVER HAD SEX WH A WOMAN—BUT A "PLATUM-STAR GAY," LIKE JACK (SEAN HAY), IS A GAY MAN WHO HAS NEVER EVEN E NTACT WH A VAGA BEE THEY WERE BORN VIA C-SECTN.CHRIS HASTON/NBCWILL & GRACE -- "EMERGENCY CONTACT" EPISO 103 -- PICTURED: (L-R) DEBRA MSG AS GRACE ADLER, HARRY CONNICK JR. AS LEO -- (PHOTO BY CHRIS HASTON/NBC){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE NEW EPISO IS NOTEWORTHY NOT ONLY BEE OF JACK'S REVEAL, BUT ALSO BEE 'S THE RETURN OF GRACE'S EX-HBAND, LEO (HARRY CONNICK JR.), WHO GRACE IS SURPRISED TO LEARN IS STILL HER MEDIL EMERGENCY NTACT. ACRDG TO PHOTOS RELEASED OM THE EPISO, ADDN TO THE RETURN OF LEO, LRA KIGHTLGER IS ALSO BACK AS FAN FAVORE SASSY NURSE SHEILA.CHRIS HASTON/NBCWILL & GRACE -- "EMERGENCY CONTACT" EPISO 103 -- PICTURED: (L-R) LRA KIGHTLGER AS NURSE SHEILA, HARRY CONNICK JR. AS LEO, DEBRA MSG AS GRACE ADLER -- (PHOTO BY CHRIS HASTON/NBC){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}HOW DO GRACE HANDLE HER RNN WH LEO AND WILL JACK EVER E NTACT WH A VAGA? WE ARE PRETTY SURE WE KNOW THE ANSWER TO THE SEND QUTN, BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO TUNE TO WILL & GRACE THIS THURSDAY TO FD OUT WHAT GO DOWN WHEN LEO BACK TO GRACE'S {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WATCH THE EXCLIVE NEW CLIP {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

More recently, Hay has revealed that he's "ashamed and embarrassed" he stayed the closet for so long when he might have ma a difference young gay people's liv by g out sooner.

WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY

Fellow executive producer David Kohan and producer-director Jam Burrows agreed, notg that the show had troduced and normalized gay people for a swath of the public. In 2012, former Vice Print Joe Bin ced the NBC s Will and Grace as a reason for Ameri's "evolvg" attu on homosexualy 2012: "I thk Will and Grace probably did more to te the Amerin public than almost anybody has ever done so far. Broadst televisn the early 2000s was a powerful form of reprentatn wh work UPN and s Ain-Amerin geared programmg, diverse soaps like telenovela adaptatn Ugly Betty, and y, ss like Will and show, starrg a gay man and his straight female roommate, at least partially managed to te straight people on the ia that there's more than one type of gay person—albe rich, whe, affluent on.

There was Jack, the flamboyant one most people assumed gay men to be; then there was Eric McCormack's Will Tman, the mundane, everyman that tght straight people their next-door neighbor uld be gay. Will's portrayal has gone on to be the blueprt for most gay men on televisn sce then, whereas Jack is somehow seen as negative, and regrsive. Was he a gay mstrel show?

'I WOULDN'T GET THIS ROLE TODAY': WILL & GRACE'S STRAIGHT 'GAY' STAR

I've e to realize that Karen Walker was the te gay in of Will & Grace. As portrayed by Megan Mullally, Karen was the boozy, outspoken bch of the NBC s, often ed as a gay male surrogate the way that the women of Sex and the Cy uld often be.

Much has been ballyhooed about whether Jack's feme, theatre-lovg, melodramatic portrayal did a disservice to gay men as the one mastream reprentatn on televisn. It's as much looked down upon the gay muny to be "femme" as is the straight muny.

The stereotyp are nstantly nonted by seri like RuPl's Drag Race and films like Moonlight, but there are still gay men who prefer to date a "mascule" man, one who do not project to the world like a Bat signal that he's a homosexual. In that rpect, Jack is a fantastic portrayal of a gay man. If Karen were a gay man, would have been a tly revolutnary portrayal and one of the first steps towards fantastilly three-dimensnal characters like T on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Lafayette on Te Blood.

A much bolr portrayal of Jack would've shown how a brash, no-nonsense feme gay man uld enjoy sex and relatnships jt as anyone else. But an attempt to make gays palatable to mastream dienc, the homo part of Jack's personaly beme ripe for jok but the sexual part remaed behd closed doors. A much bolr portrayal of Jack would've shown how a brash, no-nonsense feme gay man uld enjoy sex and relatnships jt as anyone exists a long le of female characters wrten by gay men who keep you tung wh their outrageo behavr and snappy one-lers.

Ryan Murphy has practilly ma a reer out of the women (Jsi Lange, Nene Leak, Jane Lynch, and Ellen Bark have all portrayed one or many), whereas his gay men tend to be sad, tortured begs like the perpetually sacchare Kurt and Blae on Glee or Fd's pictn of gay actor Victor Buono. Hay, who told gay fans last year he "owed them a huge apology for g out too late, " is now an openly gay man who has an ia of what 's like to fully embrace your sexualy 2017.

Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Msg) have been livg together off and on for years, and even though Grace isn't a newer to the gay scene, she still don't know every term The Gay Handbook™ an exclive new clip om this week's episo, "Emergency Contact, " Grace forc Will to "gayspla" the term "Platum-Star Gay" to her. For those of you who don't know, a "Gold-Star Gay" is a gay man who has never had sex wh a woman—but a "Platum-Star Gay, " like Jack (Sean Hay), is a gay man who has never even e ntact wh a vaga bee they were born via new episo is noteworthy not only bee of Jack's reveal, but also bee 's the return of Grace's ex-hband, Leo (Harry Connick Jr. The ensemble edy seri featured two gay characters—lawyer Will Tman (Eric McCormack) and aspirg actor Jack McFarland (Sean Hay)—and their bt iends, terr signer Grace Adler (Debra Msg) and eccentric sociale Karen Walker (Megan Mullally), whose fun-filled antics were enjoyed by lns of viewers for eight seasons on NBC.

Kohan was a mutual iend who watched their relatnship change and mature over the only relatnship NBC executive Warren Ltlefield was terted , however, was the one wh the gay man livg wh the straight woman. When Mutchnick and Kohan wrote the pilot, they jt foced on the Will and Grace two creators named the show Will & Grace based on a ncept the Jewish philosophy book I and Thou by Mart Buber, which he says that one needs the "will" to go after the prence of the Eternal and the "grace" to receive wag to hear about the fate of their show after submtg their pilot script, the two men sent Warren Ltlefield fax listg the box office numbers of The Birdge and My Bt Friend’s Weddg, two h movi featurg gay Hay was at the Sundance Film Ftival Park Cy, Utah when a work stg executive faxed him the pilot script for Will & Grace after seeg him Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss. '" The next day, she agreed to take the Barrowman, who is gay, said he was told by Will & Grace producers that he was ‘too straight’ to play Will.

” In 2014, The Smhsonian Instute add ems om Will & Grace as part of their llectn documentg the history of gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr dividuals.