The actor on growg up gay bible belt Texas, what his new film says about the progrs of LGBTQ+ rights – and what he learned om his son g out as straight
Contents:
- ‘BROS’ STAR LE MACFARLANE TALKS MASCULY AND GAY INTY
- JSE WILLIAMS WEIGHS ON BEG A STRAIGHT MAN PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER BROADWAY'S TAKE ME OUT
- WHAT 40 YEARS OF CELEBRY TERVIEWS TGHT ME ABOUT ATTUS TOWARDS GAY MEN
‘BROS’ STAR LE MACFARLANE TALKS MASCULY AND GAY INTY
Catch up wh the latt celebri of tert the gay muny - gay actors, micians, mols, athlet, TV personali and more. * gay actor interview *
)In “Take Me Out, ” which is set the mid-1990s, Williams, 40, plays Darren Lemmg, a superstar baseball player who out as gay. While Broadway has largely cid agast racial impersonatn, when to matters of sexualy, genr and disabily nversatns around which actors should play which rol rema, who is openly gay, said that an actor’s sexualy pertas ls than other factors.
JSE WILLIAMS WEIGHS ON BEG A STRAIGHT MAN PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER BROADWAY'S TAKE ME OUT
The romantic lead the new gay rom- tails how mascule norms shut his character off "om fdg his thentic self." * gay actor interview *
“If there’s anybody the gay muny that thks that role should be played by a gay person, they have an argument, ” he said.
“I really wanted the challenge of tryg to do my bt at the role, ” he Jse Tyler Fergon (“Morn Fay”), the openly gay actor who plays oppose Williams, that’s enough. Now, more than a later, the actor will make his theatril film but — the first-ever gay rom- om a major stud (the ma st is entirely ma up of LGBTQ actors).
WHAT 40 YEARS OF CELEBRY TERVIEWS TGHT ME ABOUT ATTUS TOWARDS GAY MEN
Former 'Grey's Anatomy' star Jse Williams was to the ongog bate over straight actors playg gay characters as he embarks on dog jt that Broadway's 'Take Me Out' * gay actor interview *
He stars Universal’s Bros, om Billy Eichner (also the first openly gay man to -wre and star his own major stud film) and director Nicholas Stoller (Neighbors).
Their meet-cute happens at a gay club, where a shirtls, ripped, baseball-hatted Aaron mak cheeky nversatn wh the phy and perennially sgle-on-purpose Bobby. “When I first read the Bros script, I really nnected wh Aaron on the ia of, where do his masculy f to the gay spectm?
* gay actor interview *
Macfarlane says he me of age, and to the bs, at a time when gay men felt the ways which they were allowed to exprs themselv, and search for succs, were very narrow. “There was somethg about growg up the ’90s, our ias of masculy me om Abercrombie & Fch or Calv Kle ads, and that was very nfg to gay people of a certa age, ” he says, also rellg how an after-school viewg of the Chippendal dancers on The Phil Donahue Show exemplified the emphatilly mascule msagg of the time. His cisn to open up about his sexualy sparks a firtorm of homophobia and racism the sport, particularly his own locker room.
But Williams is also engagg wh another proment topic of discsn — whether straight actors should play gay characters.
You were talkg about the inty issu that the play wrtl wh, and your character, Darren, has two big thgs that he's alg wh terms as a biracial baseball player who out as gay. Dealg wh tolerance and and the racism and homophobia that e up the play, do you have to parse the nuanc between those two thgs or is all one big meltg pot of horrible people? Thanks to the shownners drivg thentic stori, filmmakers buckg s-old heteronormative paradigms, actors embolned to live more hontly and platforms bankrollg so much of , beg gay, queer, transgenr or any other other has never been more wily embraced the entertament s gural Pri issue, The Hollywood Reporter homed on the talent and makers helpg boost visibily and creatg opportuni for members of the extend LGBTQ muny.