14 Most Memorable Gay Characters Played By Non-Gay Actors | Essence

Contents:

• 20 GREAT ROL: OUR FAVORE STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS
• STANLEY TUCCI: IT’S OK FOR STRAIGHT ACTORS TO PLAY GAY ROL IF DONE ‘THE RIGHT WAY’
• STANLEY TUCCI IS PRETTY FE WH STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• STANLEY TUCCI SAYS IT'S 'FE' FOR STRAIGHT ACTORS TO PLAY GAY CHARACTERS
• SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS STILL PLAY GAY CHARACTERS? 'IT'S PLITED'
• 8 GAY ACTORS WHO PLAYED STRAIGHT CHARACTERS
• GOOD MORNG BRA HOSTS TIRED BATE ON WHETHER STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD PLAY GAY ROL
• STANLEY TUCCI SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY ROL: 'YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY DIFFERENT PEOPLE. YOU JT ARE.'
• STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS
• STANLEY TUCCI SAYS HE THKS STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY GAY CHARACTERS
• 14 MOST MEMORABLE GAY CHARACTERS PLAYED BY NON-GAY ACTORS
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

20 GREAT ROL: OUR FAVORE STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS

"Roger Ebert wrote: "He plays the role not as a man pretendg to be a woman, and not as a woman trapped a man's body, and not as a parody of a woman, and not as a gay man, but as a drag queen, perd: Lola, a tall, athletic performer thigh-high red boots who l the stage of a drag club as if she were born there, and is a pretty good sger, too. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, both straight, were both Osr-nomated for their performanc (Ledger lead, Gyllenhaal supportg) this film about two men fallg love and ntug their affair for film sred 87% on Rotten Tomato, wh the se's cril nsens readg: "A betifully epic Wtern, 'Brokeback Mounta''s gay love story is imbued wh heartbreakg universaly, helped by the movg performanc of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

STANLEY TUCCI: IT’S OK FOR STRAIGHT ACTORS TO PLAY GAY ROL IF DONE ‘THE RIGHT WAY’

Harvey Milk is one of the most important gay activists history, and straight actor Sean Penn won an Osr for playg him. We have some of the most pellg liv, so 's not surprisg that everyone wants to tell our s gotten better recent years, throughout history, most great gay rol have gone to straight actors, wh over a dozen wng Osrs for playg LGBTQ+ characters. Sometim n be tirome seeg straight actors get all of this praise for brgg gay people to life, but other tim s tly are our ten favore performanc by straight actors playg queer characters movi and TV om 2022.

STANLEY TUCCI IS PRETTY FE WH STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

While she spends most of her time at work yellg at men who flirt wh the sk clerk she's cshg on and ly tellg guts that she n't help them, Victoria is secretly holdg a ep secret: she's gay, but has never been wh a woman. The bt movie of the year was centered around a relatnship between a mother and her gay dghter. While straight actors have been known to play gay characters, the same is also te for gay actors playg straight rol.

STANLEY TUCCI SAYS IT'S 'FE' FOR STRAIGHT ACTORS TO PLAY GAY CHARACTERS

About beg a gay man playg straight characters, Le Evans once said an terview that “you n be happy wh yourself and you n also be whoever you want. In 2006, NPH me out sayg that he was “happy to dispel any mors or misnceptns, ” that he is “que proud to say that I am a very ntent gay man livg my life to the fullt and feel most fortunate to be workg wh wonrful people the bs I love. Before g out as gay 2014, his heartwarmg speech livered at the Time to Thrive nference which aims to promote LGBT youth welfare, and later as a transgenr man 2020, Ellt Page was st as the tular role of the edy classic Juno.

SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS STILL PLAY GAY CHARACTERS? 'IT'S PLITED'

He believ that “livg a gay life whout publicly acknowledgg is simply not enough to make any signifint ntributn to the immense work that li ahead on the road to plete equaly. Heather Matarazzo was the keynote speaker at the 15th annual Gay, Lbian, and Straight Edutn Network of Boston’s nference 2005. Like, for example, how Isaiah Washgton was fired om the show after g a homophobic slur directed at T.

8 GAY ACTORS WHO PLAYED STRAIGHT CHARACTERS

In his acceptance speech, Jonathan Bailey prais the productn for beg “a lovely and celebratory snapshot of gay love” what he scribed as “a time where acknowledgg the very existence of LGBT people our schools is beg qutned.

Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron and Hilary Swank won Osrs for playg gay or transgenr characters.

GOOD MORNG BRA HOSTS TIRED BATE ON WHETHER STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD PLAY GAY ROL

Whether ’s for televisn or a feature film, ’s not easy to pull off a gay role as a straight actor.

Hilary Swank, “Boys Don’t Cry” (while Swank’s character Brandon Teena was transgenr, not gay, the role was inic for many gays and lbians). The bate over whether or not straight actors should play gay rol isn’t gog to die down any time soon. While we fely prefer that most gay rol go to gay actors, and we love the thenticy they brg to the rol and the projects they’re , we n’t help but have a special soft spot for a few straight stars, like Brendan Fraser, are great people and great at playg gay, but aren't really known for .

We want a future where every talented queer actor n get whatever rol they want and where queer actors fally w awards for playg queer rol, but until then, the ten actors show that not every straight actor should be banned om playg gay on screen.

STANLEY TUCCI SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY ROL: 'YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY DIFFERENT PEOPLE. YOU JT ARE.'

Theron won an Osr for playg queer serial killer Aileen Wuornos Monster, and then played gay aga the next year 2004’s Head the Clouds. But we really loved her as a bisexual actn star Atomic Blon, and as a gay in rol like Fura Mad Max: Fury Road, and Andy The Old Guard. Firth was nomated for an Osr and won the BAFTA for his role as a gay Brish profsor livg 1960’s California the film A Sgle Man.

He’s also played gay oppose Stanley Tucci Supernova, and plays Harry Bright, one of Sophia’s potential fathers (and a gay man) the Mamma Mia! We loved when McGregor played a gay mate Phillip Morris the dark edy I Love You Phillip Morris, and aga when he played real-life legendary fashn signer Halston the Netflix miseri Halston. This year, he returns to playg gay Cassandro, a film about the legendary gay lucha libre wrtler.

Gyllenhaal broke all of our hearts as a gay wboy Brokeback Mounta and then played an eccentric queer art cric Velvet Buzzsaw. He’s also producg and starrg an upg film adaptatn of the mil Fun Home as Alison Bechl’s gay dad. Early her reer, Lyonne played the inic role of the cheerlear the semal lbian movie But I’m a Cheerlear, and sce then, she’s never stopped playg gay.

STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS

From smaller movi like The Daytrippers and Ltle Chaos, to his inic gay rol The Devil Wears Prada, Burlque, and Supernova (oppose fellow straight-actor-we-love Col Firth), he always do the gay muny right. Chalamet hasn’t had as many gay rol as the rt of the people on this list (he’s only 27, after all), but he ma que the imprsn on the queer muny wh his touchg and realistic performance as a lovtck teen Lu Guadagno’s classic g-of-age romance Call Me by Your Name.

Stanley Tucci tak no issue wh straight actors playg gay characters — as long as ’s done “the right way.

“And I’m always very flattered when gay men e up to me and talk about ‘The Devil Wears Prada, ’ when they talk about ‘Supernova, ’ and they say that was ‘jt so betiful. Is not about havg only gay people play the gay parts but to ensure that all parts are open to all actors. ” “It’s important that gay characters are portrayed as well-round and pletely human dividuals, ” add Parsons, who noted that “there are plenty of straight actors who have played gay characters brilliantly.

STANLEY TUCCI SAYS HE THKS STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY GAY CHARACTERS

Grant qutned a 2019 terview wh the Sunday Tim how anyone uld still “jtify heterosexual actors playg gay characters.

14 MOST MEMORABLE GAY CHARACTERS PLAYED BY NON-GAY ACTORS

”And “Glee” alum Darren Criss ma headl 2018 for sayg that he might stop playg gay characters, tellg Btle, “I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy takg a gay man’s role. While there may not be a simple answer, Stanley Tucci—who has played gay rol The Devil Wears Prada and 2020's Supernova (not to mentn Emma Stone’s father who was inilly gay once Easy A)—recently weighed , sayg that he believ ’s perfectly acceptable as long as ’s done “the right way.

“I am always very flattered when gay men e up to me and talk to me about The Devil Wears Prada or they talk about Supernova, and they say that, ‘It was jt so betiful, ’ you know, ‘You did the right way. ”While Tucci didn’t elaborate on this particular form of bad-fah actg, ’s pretty easy to assume that he was referrg to the myriad of films which LGBTQ+ people have been rced to harmful, homophobic stereotyp over the years.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

) Or perhaps he was referencg the super ol clatn of, erm, certa actors to fensively claim that the gay films they star are not jt “a gay story about the guys beg gay. When asked by host Lren Laverne to weigh on the bate surroundg straight actors playg gay actors, Tucci rpond, “Obvly, I believe that’s fe.