Gay Actors, Straight Rol: A Lson In Makg Sure Your Argument Is Logil : NPR

Contents:

• 20 GREAT ROL: OUR FAVORE STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS
• GAY ACTORS, STRAIGHT ROL: A LSON IN MAKG SURE YOUR ARGUMENT IS LOGIL
• STANLEY TUCCI: IT’S OK FOR STRAIGHT ACTORS TO PLAY GAY ROL IF DONE ‘THE RIGHT WAY’
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• 8 GAY ACTORS WHO PLAYED STRAIGHT CHARACTERS
• STANLEY TUCCI IS PRETTY FE WH STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS STILL PLAY GAY CHARACTERS? 'IT'S PLITED'
• NEIL PATRICK HARRIS SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

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

"Clive is a gay man who tri to supprs his homosexualy Edwardian-era England.

"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. Harvey Milk is one of the most important gay activists history, and straight actor Sean Penn won an Osr for playg him. Many actors who are not gay realy have portrayed gay characters, real and fictnal.

GAY ACTORS, STRAIGHT ROL: A LSON IN MAKG SURE YOUR ARGUMENT IS LOGIL

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

Look, I'm not here to argue the motiv of Ram Satooh, who recently wrote the lightng-rod lumn that started wh a crique of Sean Hay Promis, Promis and somehow arrived at the ia that never really works when out gay actors try to play straight romantic leads. Satooh poss that this would prent a major problem for Hypothetilly Gay Gee Clooney Guy.

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

It would also be a feat to expla why this would only work one directn -- why dienc wh prenceptns about sexualy would be more likely to enjoy and accept Tom Hanks or Sean Penn as a gay person than they would be to accept Hypothetilly Gay Gee Clooney Guy as a straight person? I am assumg, however, that a lot of men who have played oppose Krist Chenoweth -- the gay on and the straight on both -- have not actually been love wh her, and have not need to be.

I mean, I'm not sure I would buy Sean Hay as Don Corleone, but 's not bee he's gay, you know? He has spent the last 10 years beg Sean Hay, and Sean Hay was on televisn for many years playg a very particular, very broadly drawn gay character, and not dog a whole lot of other high-profile work. In other words: To turn Sean Hay to a nvcg tt of a possible HGGCG, you have to image that addn to beg known to be Hypothetilly Gay when not on the clock, Gee Clooney Guy spent eight seasons on work televisn playg a very famo gay character.

If an actor projects beefy bravado on-screen, but you n't al wh him takg a bubble bath bee your bra is settg off some kd of WHOOP-WHOOP-WHOOP gay-person alarm that is specifilly stimulated by bubbl -- and if the only reason that alarm go off is that you're wag for to go off bee you already know he's gay -- then I would venture to say that is not Rock Hudson's problem. And if you uld watch the same scene five mut before you found out Rock Hudson was Not Hypothetilly Gay and see entirely different subtext -- a subversn of and a tweak of machismo through the takg of a bubble bath, for stance, rather than GAY GAY GAY -- then there's absolutely no reason you n't ntue to see that way five mut later. Setooh's efforts to disunt existg gay actors who currently play straight characters -- actors whose succs would seem to knock every possible leg out om this already rickety hypothis -- clu wrg off Neil Patrick Harris, bee the womanizer he plays on How I Met Your Mother is a riture.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

He is so distractg, I'm startg to wonr if Groff's character on the show is supposed to be secretly gay.

I watch this show, I watch Jonathan Groff on this show, and I had no ia he was gay, and I thought he was sexy, and I still thk he's sexy, so perhaps he only "seems more like your average theater queen" if you're lookg for . Do this suggt that would make the character seem ls distractgly maybe-gay if the character were sgg "Like A Virg" and wrhg around on a bed, but Groff hadn't e out? Stanley Tucci tak no issue wh straight actors playg gay characters — as long as ’s done “the right way.

8 GAY ACTORS WHO PLAYED STRAIGHT CHARACTERS

“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.

STANLEY TUCCI IS PRETTY FE WH STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

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

”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. The bate over whether or not straight actors should play gay rol isn’t gog to die down any time soon.

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

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. 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.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

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.