'Downton Abbey' actor says playg a gay character has left him "typest"

Contents:

• ‘DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA’: JULIAN FELLOW MOLED THOMAS BARROW AND GUY DEXTER AFTER SEVERAL REAL-LIFE GAY CELEBRI
• DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR SAYS GAY ROLE HURT HIS CAREER — BUT IS HE RIGHT?
• THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE’S GAY STORYLE ALMOST HAD A DARKER ENDG
• DOWNTON ABBEY'S THOMAS BARROW AND THE FUTURE OF THE GAY PAST
• THOMAS BARROW, INIC CHAOTIC GAY, GETS BLAND BUT HAPPY ENDG ‘DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA’—HAPPY PRI MONTH
• ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ ACTOR SAYS PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER HAS LEFT HIM “TYPEST”
• DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR SAYS GAY ROLE HURT HIS CAREER — BUT IS HE RIGHT?

‘DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA’: JULIAN FELLOW MOLED THOMAS BARROW AND GUY DEXTER AFTER SEVERAL REAL-LIFE GAY CELEBRI

Hollywood to Downton (Cred: Foc)And the arrival of the glamouro guts may spark more than jt excement for the rints of Downton, as the trailer seems to ht at romance for butler Thomas first film saw Barrow e to terms wh his sexualy – a ground-breakg plot for Downton, as beg gay the early 1900s was a crimal offence – and seems he may be for a passnate flg wh film star Guy Dexter (played by Domic Wt). One example of society movg forward is a burgeong gay relatnship hidn pla sight. The storyle is le wh the secret double liv required of gay people orr to stay safe durg this era.

DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR SAYS GAY ROLE HURT HIS CAREER — BUT IS HE RIGHT?

‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ shows how gay men found ways to be themselv wh the rtrictns of the time.

One of the sendary storyl explor how gay men found ways to pursue romantic feelgs wh the era’s rtrictns. There’s a reason there are still relatively few movie stars who are openly gay. “One of the terts of wrg perd drama is that you have the challeng earlier societi for people who were gay, for women, for the black muny, all sorts [of mographics] where obstacl were nstantly beg placed their way.

THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE’S GAY STORYLE ALMOST HAD A DARKER ENDG

He prevly lived wh openly gay stume signer Orry-Kelly and allegedly had affairs wh men while married. An acclaimed actor for three s, was an open secret the dtry that Hudson was gay.

Among those volved the productn is Guy Dexter, a closeted gay movie star played by Domic Guy drops hts about his sexual inty, mostly through exchang wh gay butler Thomas Barrow (Robert Jam-Collier, both pictured above), the portrayal ntu the tradn of queer cln projects om Downton creator and wrer Julian Fellow, wh exampl such as Barrow, The Gild Age's Osr van Rhijn, and several characters Gosford Park.

DOWNTON ABBEY'S THOMAS BARROW AND THE FUTURE OF THE GAY PAST

"I got que terted, really, over the past years, the prediment of beg gay before the morn age, " says Fellow, a straight ally. Some viewers didn't believe such thgs really happened, and Fellow got letters to which he rpond that beg gay was not only illegal the 1920s, was illegal his own youth the 1960s.

In his own life, one of his brothers had a godfather who was a gay earl. Fellow's pictns of gay people aren't one-dimensnal, and the characters are hardly sats; some uld even be ced as exampl of the "schemg gay" trope, like Osr The Gild Age or Barrow the early seasons of Gild Age's Osr van Rhijn (Blake Rson); Photo Alison Cohen Rosa"What I that at the begng of Downton, [Barrow] would be seen as v and untstworthy and all of those kd of thgs, but as you got to know him and as you got to know the prediment he was , you started to unrstand that was very difficult for him to tst people and that was very difficult for him to relax and to bee open and iendly, " Fellow says. "You gradually unrstand that for most people, beg gay the 1920s, that ma you were always one step away om disaster.

He played gay rights activist Jonathan Blake Pri.

THOMAS BARROW, INIC CHAOTIC GAY, GETS BLAND BUT HAPPY ENDG ‘DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA’—HAPPY PRI MONTH

One of the films that began to turn the ti was 2014's "Pri, " which foced on the real-life story of a group of lbian and gay London activists helpg out the 1984 Brish mers' strike and tablishg an unlikely bond of mutual support.

(via Pk News), wh gay men as the targets of particular social and polil stigma. A seasoned, eply lovg uple, they play a major part showg the small town of Onllwyn that gay men are people like everybody else, wh the livels and optimism of Blake — a real-life legend Brish LGBT activism (via OX Magaze) — provg particularly key that tearg down of walls. Over the seasons, the seri revealed that Thomas’ schem were motivated by his stggle as a closeted gay man livg early 20th century England.

‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ ACTOR SAYS PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER HAS LEFT HIM “TYPEST”

Robert Jam-Collier is known ternatnally for his role as Thomas Barrow, the v gay unrbutler who brought trigue to the halls of Downton the perd drama, Barrow hid his sexual orientatn for fear would hurt his reer. And the straight actor who portrays him, Jam-Collier, believ this character's inty may have had nsequenc the morn-day real world as, an terview wh Rad Tim, said his renown for playg a gay role hred his chanc Hollywood.

DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR SAYS GAY ROLE HURT HIS CAREER — BUT IS HE RIGHT?

N intify que easily wh the qutsential English gent and English lady, whereas a nrotic, dark, gay character like Thomas is a hard thg to put to the Amerin market. "Bee Thomas Barrow is gay and is, sentially, the bad guy for much of the show, a lot of people wh the dtry n only see you as that. He received offers for gay rol the theater world, which he refed bee he "really wanted to show somethg different.

" He is now set to appear the upg horror movie The Rual, one of his first major parts sce Jam-Collier did enunter hurdl Hollywood for playg a gay role, his experience would be an exceptn -- at least morn tim.

There are straight actors who have turned down gay rol for var reasons, cludg a fear would lim future opportuni.