14 Most Memorable Gay Characters Played By Non-Gay Actors | Essence

Contents:

• 10 STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO REFE TO PLAY GAY ROL (AND 10 WHO DON'T MD)
• 14 MOST MEMORABLE GAY CHARACTERS PLAYED BY NON-GAY ACTORS
• SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS STILL PLAY GAY CHARACTERS? 'IT'S PLITED'
• NEIL PATRICK HARRIS SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAY GAY ROL? A STAR TV WRER SAYS NO

10 STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO REFE TO PLAY GAY ROL (AND 10 WHO DON'T MD)

In 2016, he starred Cell which is based on a novel that featur a gay character, but that important tail didn't translate over to the film, and now you know the reason behd the change. Sean Penn has always shown his support for gay rights and never shied away to speak his md about same-sex marriage, but his role one of the most crilly acclaimed movi om the past 10 years has ma him an even more important figure. Fehr didn't seem to enjoy the experience and has ma siar ments several terviews, so if you enjoyed his n as a gay character, you probably should ntue dog so sce seems highly unlikely that Fehr would accept such role aga.

In all fairns, 's not like anybody would lose sleep if they were never to wns him playg a gay character, his prime years are way behd him and he's no longer the tertg figure that he ed to be for so many years. Makg her long-overdue return to the small screen, Phylicia Rashad has land a starrg role on the new Ava DuVeryay-directed CBS drama For Jtice which she will portray Gea Howe, a gay woman workg the Department of Jtice’s Civil Rights Divisn who mt learn to navigate both the racism and homophobia that she mt face the workplace.

14 MOST MEMORABLE GAY CHARACTERS PLAYED BY NON-GAY ACTORS

Playg one of the most plex characters on The Wire, Williams portrays Omar Devon Ltle, a gay crimal whose moral pass is somewhat straighter than his fellow characters. In early December, Netflix dropped s highly anticipated mil edy “The Prom, ” starrg Meryl Streep, Nile Kidman, Andrew Rannells and Jam Corn as fadg Broadway stars who set out to help a lbian teen take her girliend to the film, helmed by out director Ryan Murphy, got mixed reviews, but some lambasted as “homophobic” and “offensive” bee of the stg of Corn, a straight actor, what they saw as an “aggrsively flamboyant” riture of a gay character, Barry Glickman, is a narcissistic theater actor who dons sparklg tuxedo jackets, talks wh a stereotypil gay lisp while flailg his hands around and scrib himself as “gay as a bucket of wigs. "Melda Sue Gordon / NetflixErik Anrson, who ns the film se Awards Watch, lled “The Prom” a “geo and vibrant productn” but tweeted that Corn’s “performance is gross and offensive, the worst gayface a long, long time.

” It was the first time an openly gay actor played a gay character a leadg role a TV part “helped fluence a whole generatn of people who beme wrers and actors and ntent creators, who wanted to see more people like Ricky, more LGBTQ people of lor, and I thk we're seeg the benef of that today, ” said Cz, who served as executive producer of Apple TV’s "Visible: Out on Televisn, ” a 2020 doceri about the history of the LGBTQ movement through the lens of Amerin Cz ma his but “My So Called Life, ” televisn has been creasgly hirg LGBTQ actors to play LGBTQ characters. In 2020 alone, queer actor Kristen Stewart played a lbian Hulu’s Christmas rom- “Happit Season, ” out actors Sarah Plson and Cynthia Nixon played love terts Ryan Murphy’s Netflix seri “Ratched, ” gay actor Dan Levy played a queer character the Emmy-wng Canadian show “Scht’s Creek"and several openly gay actors starred the Netflix adaptn of the Tony Award-wng queer play “The Boys the Band.

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

Straight and cisgenr ‘privilege’While straight and cisgenr actors are given many opportuni to play rol outsi their own genr and sexualy, many gay and trans actors say they are given far ls leeway. He said the movie bs is “a very heterosexual bs” that’s “n mostly by heterosexual men” and lamented that straight actors takg gay rol has a stiflg effect on gay actors who, like him, are no longer nsired for heterosexual parts.

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

Most notably, perhaps, Tom Hanks, who won an Amy Award for his portrayal of a gay man dyg of AIDS the 1993 film “Philalphia, ” and Hilary Swank, who won the Osr for her performance as transgenr man Brandon Teena the 1999 film “Boys Don’t Cry. ” The amy also nomated actors Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal for their rol the 2005 gay wboy film “Brokeback Mounta, ” Jared Leto for his portrayal of a trans woman the 2013 film “Dallas Buyers Club, ” actor Cate Blanchett for her role the 2015 lbian romantic drama “Carol” and Eddie Redmayne for his portrayal of a trans woman the 2015 film “The Danish Girl.

SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAY GAY ROL? A STAR TV WRER SAYS NO

“To have quote-unquote ‘straight’ actors sayg now, ‘Hey, I won't take that part, bee 's gay, and you should give to a gay person, ’ feels like another way to stigmatize our stori, " Babb said. “Hontly, a transgenr person playg a gay role would be a really good possibily, and we would unrstand really well, bee we've had to all grapple wh sexualy as an issue. Bros, which marks the first-ever gay rom- om a major stud and featur a prcipal LGBTQ+ st, follows the dysfunctnal relatnship between podster and rad show host Bobby Lieber (Billy Eichner) and real tate lawyer slash jock Aaron Shepard (Le Macfarlane).

The former GAY TIMES ver star has ntuoly ed his platform to advote for LGBTQ+ rights on social media and through his mic; his song Gay Street Fighter celebrat the LGBTQ+ muny and clar war on homophobia. Starrg the Billy on the Street alum as Bobby Lieber, the host of a New York podst and rad show lled The Eleventh Brick at Stonewall, Bros follows the character as he accepts a posn as a curator for Manhattan’s upg Natnal LGBTQ+ History Mm and and falls for Aaron Shepard (Le Macfarlane), a handsome “Tom Brady”-que gay.