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

Contents:

• 'I WOULDN'T GET THIS ROLE TODAY': WILL & GRACE'S STRAIGHT 'GAY' STAR
• ‘WILL & GRACE’ FANS ARE STILL UNSURE IF ERIC MCCORMACK IS GAY REAL LIFE
• WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY
• WILL & GRACE BROKE GROUND FOR GAY REPRENTATN—CAN IT DO IT AGA?
• ‘WILL & GRACE’ IS BACK. WILL ITS PORTRA OF GAY LIFE HOLD UP?

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

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.

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. 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 & GRACE’ FANS ARE STILL UNSURE IF ERIC MCCORMACK IS GAY REAL LIFE

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.

If Will & Grace were beg st for the first time today, Eric McCormack nces, "I probably wouldn't get anywhere near this role"'s bee McCormack is straight, and this era of diversy and thenticy stg would be a bold, perhaps even foolish, cisn to st anyone but a gay actor a seri that puts the character's sexualy ont and he'd be out of a job this hypothetil scenar, the first "gay" man many middle Amerins weled to their hom is OK wh that.

WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY

"I thk wasn't a terrible thg 1998 that a straight guy played the role, but I'm glad that tim are changg, and I'm glad that nowadays a Will Tman would probably be st wh someone who is gay, " he says. "The show has given me a chance to give back, " he says, cg some recent gay-related chary events at which he has appeared.

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.

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

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.

‘WILL & GRACE’ IS BACK. WILL ITS PORTRA OF GAY LIFE HOLD UP?

” 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. Beg the first show to feature two promently gay characters, the seri foced on the liv of the ma st and how they navigated their reers and relatnships. The album featured gay classics like “I Will Survive, ” and songs by gut stars of the show like Cher’s “Gypsi, Tramps and Thiev.