'Downton Abbey' Actor Says Gay Role Hurt His Career — But Is He Right?

Contents:

• DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR SAYS GAY ROLE HURT HIS CAREER — BUT IS HE RIGHT?
• DOWNTON ABBEY'S THOMAS BARROW AND THE FUTURE OF THE GAY PAST
• ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ ACTOR SAYS PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER HAS LEFT HIM “TYPEST”
• DOWNTON ABBEY’S ROB JAM-COLLIER REVEALS REACTN TO ‘HORRIFIC’ GAY STORYLE
• DOWNTON ABBEY'S CREEPY GAY SECRET
• THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE’S GAY STORYLE ALMOST HAD A DARKER ENDG
• WHICH DOWNTON ABBEY ACTORS ARE GAY?
• ACTOR ANDREW HAYN-SMH SAYS DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR’S GAY TYPEST PROBLEM IS WRONG
• THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE GAY BAR SCENE IS ACTUALLY PRETTY HISTORILLY ACCURATE
• DOWNTON ABBEY'STHOMAS AT A GAY BAR WH THE DOWAGER? IT COULD HAPPEN
• ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ DIRECTOR DISCS THE REALI OF CRAFTG A 1920S CLOSETED GAY ROMANCE
• DOWNTON ABBEY STAR MOVED BY GAY STORYLE NEW MOVIE

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

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. 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.

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

There are straight actors who have turned down gay rol for var reasons, cludg a fear would lim future opportuni. Will Smh said he limed the physily of his gay role Six Degre of Separatn, on a warng om Denzel Washgton, who said, "You n act all you want, but don't do any physil scen.... "But overall, Hollywood is full of straight actors who have won acclaim, awards, and a uful reer after playg gay rol.

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

Thomas Barrow (Rob Jam-Collier)—former footman, would-be blackmailer, and early morn homosexual everyman—is now head butler on staff, givg him ample opportuny to teract wh the visg stars, and particular, wh the bonair Guy Dexter (Domic Wt). Is Thomas an accurate unveilg of historil homosexualy, hidn but fully formed, jt wag for to notice his existence?

DOWNTON ABBEY’S ROB JAM-COLLIER REVEALS REACTN TO ‘HORRIFIC’ GAY STORYLE

Hello to the future of the gay past.

In the film, dienc will see Barrow the ntext of a wir gay world for the first time: visg a secret gay bar, dodgg police harassment, and possibly even fdg love. "I thk one of the thgs that Downton Abbey don’t get right is that actually a great al more of those young men who were service were homosexual.

Barrow is stantly regnizable as a morn gay man, even if he never que those words.

DOWNTON ABBEY'S CREEPY GAY SECRET

Gooch//Getty ImagOn the one hand, this feels like an elaboratn of that famo gay liberatn slogan “we are everywhere, ” expandg to be “we were everywhere” also. On the other hand, seems to remove sexualy om the doma of history entirely, suggtg that the experience of beg gay has always been the same, no matter the place or perd.

While everyone else the show be, Barrow already qutn for queer Downton Abbey fans, then, is this: Is Thomas an accurate unveilg of historil homosexualy, hidn but fully formed, jt wag for to notice his existence? Or is he a backward projectn of our current ia of what means to be gay, an anachronism disguised as a revelatn?

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

Like Thomas Barrow, Alec Scudr seems preternaturally gay, fully aware of his sexual sir, that they are exclively for men, and that they mark him, irrevobly, as a different sort of person. In the post-Edwardian perd, upper class men were more likely to already unrstand the world terms of heterosexuals and homosexuals, wh a bright and absolute le dividg the two. But whereas Scudr and Barrow seemed to thk of themselv as gay, el-Adl experienced his sire for men differently.

Increasgly, sexologists, policians, and wrers began to promulgate the ia that the behavrs were signifiers of homosexualy, to be surveilled and curtailed.

WHICH DOWNTON ABBEY ACTORS ARE GAY?

Compton Mackenzie, pictured send om the left the ont row, wrote several works about gay men. BettmannA workg class man like Thomas Barrow, livg the untrysi, was unlikely to have accs to this kd of rmatn about gay inty. As s passed, the neat fictn of bary sexualy beme broadly acknowledged “tth, ” leavg ls and ls space for middle-dwellg, workg-class men like Buckgham and an earlier and earlier age, people would be tght— streets as much as schools—that homosexuals existed, that they were unlike other men, and that any apparent “middle ground” was actually a slippery slope head straight to hell.

Barrow might have been an implsible outlier at the begng of the show 1912, but by the 1950s, workg class men who intified as homosexual were throngg the streets of London. Downton Abbey star Rob Jam-Collier has suggted that playg a gay character the show has hurt his reer.

“I thk dienc the US n intify que easily wh the qutsential English gent and English lady, ” he said, “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, ” the actor ntued.

ACTOR ANDREW HAYN-SMH SAYS DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR’S GAY TYPEST PROBLEM IS WRONG

Jam-Collier also revealed that he has turned down theatril rol “which happened to be gay characters” sce Downton Abbey fished bee he “really wanted to show somethg different”. Robert returns as Thomas (Picture: ITV)Former Corrie star Robert Jam-Collier has revealed his own reactn to landg an important gay storyle the upg Downton Abbey film.

THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE GAY BAR SCENE IS ACTUALLY PRETTY HISTORILLY ACCURATE

The actor, who plays valet-turned-butler Thomas Barrow for the big-screen outg, after starrg the ITV drama, said his plotle shows the treatment of beg a gay man the 1920s. Speakg of beg given the opportuny to lift the lid on what was like, Jam said was an emotnal sight to a horrific perd for gay people. He’s opened up on his important storyle (Picture: PA)He ntued: ‘It also hammers home what was like to be a gay man those tim, was horrific and ’s brought back and jt shows how different was.

DOWNTON ABBEY'STHOMAS AT A GAY BAR WH THE DOWAGER? IT COULD HAPPEN

His character, Barrow, stggled wh revealg his sexualy as a gay man on "Downton Abbey" and Barrow had an on-screen kiss wh another male character.

The most fascatg gay villa on televisn is Downton Abbey's schemg unr-butler Thomas Barrow, played wh smolrg menace by the darkly handsome Rob many characters on the wildly popular Brish seri, Barrow is a mass of ntradictns.

He attempts to blackmail a gay aristocrat season 1, yet he falls unrequed love wh pretty boy footman Jimmy, whose life he sav, season the season 5 premiere alone, Barrow tri to blackmail lady's maid Baxter to revealg dirt on the valet Mr.

‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ DIRECTOR DISCS THE REALI OF CRAFTG A 1920S CLOSETED GAY ROMANCE

Bat, yet he rcu Lady Edh and sav the day when the hoe tch 's villay is rooted his seethg rentment of his aristocratic employers, but more importantly, the fact that he's a closeted gay man a time when homosexualy was punishable by gay storyle is takg a dark and creepy turn the current season, which ma s U.

All signs suggt that he's attemptg some 1920s versn of gay "nversn" an terview wh Brish tabloid The Sun, Jam-Collier hted that his character's journey will get much worse before gets better:"It's fally dawned on Thomas he isn't gog to be allowed to love and he may give up that partment. At the time was illegal and agast God to be gay, so he's got this tremendo cross to bear. Yet viewers both gay and straight will likely be transfixed by what's gog to happen to Barrow.

Thomas Barrow, Downton Abbey‘s valet-turned-butler, whose dark journey durg the seri saw him take some wrenchg steps to try and “cure” himself of homosexualy, received a much more hopeful treatment the new feature film of the same name. The film, which troduc Barrow to a world he has never seen before, a clanste unrground social scene where gay men n openly nnect, where he's led by Richard Ellis (Max Brown), part of the royal entourage that has e to vis Downton.

DOWNTON ABBEY STAR MOVED BY GAY STORYLE NEW MOVIE

Engler also spoke about the gay storyle wh Indiewire, about some of the choic that were ma when pictg the 1920s gay scene, particular the gay ‘speakeasy' that gets raid.