Gee Takei Reacts to Gay Sulu News: “I Thk It’s Really Unfortunate” – The Hollywood Reporter

Contents:

• GEE TAKEI REACTS TO GAY SULU NEWS: “I THK IT’S REALLY UNFORTUNATE”
• HAS STAR TREK'S SULU ALWAYS BEEN GAY? IT'S COMPLITED
• SULU IS GAY IN 'STAR TREK BEYOND,' MAKG FRANCHISE HISTORY
• ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’ NFIRMS THAT HIKA SULU IS GAY
• STAR TREK ACTORS STAND BEHD GAY SULU REVELATN
• JOHN CHO NFIRMS THAT SULU IS GAY AND MARRIED "STAR TREK BEYOND"
• GEE TAKEI LLS 'STAR TREK BEYOND' GAY SULU SCENE 'A WHISPER'
• 'STAR TREK BEYOND'S SULU IS THE FRANCHISE'S FIRST GAY CHARACTER
• HIKARO SULU PORTRAYED AS GAY NEW STAR TREK FILM, SAYS ACTOR JOHN CHO
• SULU IS AN OUT AND PROUD GAY MAN STAR TREK BEYOND, ACRDG TO JOHN CHOMUCH LIKE GEE TAKEI, THE ACTOR WHO PLAYED THE ORIGAL SULU THE FIRST STAR TREK TV SERI.BY HILLARY BISJULY 7, 2016LEFT, OM CBS PHOTO ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAG; RIGHT, URTY OF PARAMOUNT PICTUR.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVELOOKS LIKE STAR TREK BEYOND WILL BOLDLY GO WHERE NO STAR TREK FILM HAS GONE BEFORE: MELBOURNE’S HERALD SUN REPORTS THAT THE UPG MOVIE WILL PICT U.S.S. ENTERPRISE HELMSMAN HIKA SULU AS A GAY MAN RAISG A DGHTER WH HIS PARTNER. (VANY FAIR HAS REACHED OUT TO PARAMOUNT FOR NFIRMATN AND MENT, AND WILL UPDATE THIS POST ACRDGLY WHEN WE HEAR BACK.)SUCH A MOVE WOULD MARK A TONE FOR THE STAR TREK ANCHISE, WHICH, THOUGH FAMOLY TRAILBLAZG TERMS OF DIVERSY AND PROGRSIVE STORYL, HAS NEVER BEFORE FEATURED AN OPENLY GAY CREW MEMBER. JT DON’T EXPECT A DRAMATIC G-OUT MOMENT FOR SULU: “I LIKED THE APPROACH, WHICH WAS NOT TO MAKE A BIG THG OUT ,” ACTOR JOHN CHO, WHO PLAYS SULU THE NEW FILMS, TOLD THE HERALD SUN. “WHICH IS WHERE I HOPE WE ARE GOG AS A SPECI, TO NOT POLICIZE ONE’S PERSONAL ORIENTATNS.”CHO ALSO DITED THAT STAR TREK BEYOND SCREENWRER (AND -STAR) SIMON PEGG AND DIRECTOR JT L CID TO MAKE SULU OPENLY GAY AS AN HOMAGE TO GEE TAKEI, THE ACTOR WHO PLAYED SULU ON THE ORIGAL STAR TREK SERI. (SULU WAS NEVER GIVEN A ROMANTIC PARTNER OF EHER SEX PREV STAR TREK RNATNS, THOUGH HE DID HAVE A DGHTER.) THOUGH CLOSETED DURG THE SHOW’S N THE 1960S, TAKEI ME OUT PUBLICLY 2005, WHEN HE REVEALED THAT HE HAD BEEN WH HIS PARTNER, BRAD ALTMAN, FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS. THE PAIR MARRIED 2008.THE EXCG WORD ABOUT SULU’S ORIENTATN—AS WELL AS S LOW-KEY REVEAL—IS A NICE B OF POSIVE NEWS G OUT OF A PRS TOUR MARRED BY TRAGEDY: CHO, HIS ST, AND THE RT OF THE STAR TREK TEAM IS STILL GRAPPLG WH THE TRAGIC ATH OF THEIR RA ANTON YELCH, WHO DIED SUDNLY JUNE AT THE AGE OF 27. “IT’S VASTATG LOSG SOMEONE YOUR FAY,” CHO’S -STAR KARL URBAN TOLD THE HERALD SUN. “I’M HAVG A DIFFICULT TIME G TO GRIPS WH TALKG ABOUT HIM THE PAST TENSE—’S VERY RAW AND VERY PAFUL.”STAR TREK BEYOND OPENS JULY 22.MOST POPULARSARA RAMIREZ ISSU STHG RPONSE TO ANTI–CHE DIAZ PROFILEBY SAVANNAH WALSHHOW LILY JAM AND JOE KEERY BEME OLD HOLLYWOOD INS FALLY DAWNBY DAVID CANFIELD25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISHILLARY BIS
• SIMON PEGG'S CANONIZED EXPLANATN OF WHY SULU IS GAY
• THE WORLD NEEDS STAR TREK'S PROGRSIVE SEXUAL FUTURE, AND GAY SULU PROV
• SULU REVEALED AS GAY STAR TREK BEYOND, ACRDG TO JOHN CHO
• ‘STAR TREK BEYOND’: JOHN CHO’S CHARACTER SULU IS OPENLY GAY

GEE TAKEI REACTS TO GAY SULU NEWS: “I THK IT’S REALLY UNFORTUNATE”

On Thursday, the Herald Sun announced that the character Hika Sulu will be revealed to be gay Star Trek Beyond, which hs theaters July 22. Gee Takei, who played Sulu the origal show and who has been a proment LGBT activist sce g out as gay jt over a ago, told the Hollywood Reporter that he has been agast revealg the character as gay sce he first heard was unr nsiratn last year. “I’m lighted that there’s a gay character, ” Takei told THR.

HAS STAR TREK'S SULU ALWAYS BEEN GAY? IT'S COMPLITED

He believed ma more sense to create a new character who has always been gay, rather than brgg Sulu out of a prumed closet. ” But he also exprsed a ncern, which he discsed wh L and -wrer Doug Jung, that a new gay character may have been perceived by the dience as a token gay character, “primarily fed by their sexualy.

” Pegg believ Rodnberry’s cisn not to velop a gay character earlier was a product of his time, not of his visn. ” Based on the movie’s timele, the cisn to make Sulu gay do not necsate his havg been the closet, Pegg explas, and prum that there has been an LGBT prence sce the begng of the anchise’s universe.

SULU IS GAY IN 'STAR TREK BEYOND,' MAKG FRANCHISE HISTORY

Neverthels, Takei — who announced he was gay 2005 — was fully attuned to the gay equaly nversatn gag momentum at the time. Te to s tle, the latt big-screen outg, Star Trek Beyond, has gone where none have gone before: Star John Cho — who assum the Sulu mantle for the third time the reboots — has told Atralia’s Herald Sun that the character is revealed to be gay. He had never asked for Sulu to be gay.

‘STAR TREK BEYOND’ NFIRMS THAT HIKA SULU IS GAY

“I’m lighted that there’s a gay character, ” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. Takei tried to nvce him to make a new character gay stead. “I told him, ‘Be imagative and create a character who has a history of beg gay, rather than Sulu, who had been straight all this time, sudnly beg revealed as beg closeted.

STAR TREK ACTORS STAND BEHD GAY SULU REVELATN

In other words, assumg non orthodoxy, this storyle suggt Sulu would have had to have first been gay and married, only to then go to the closet years later. Not long after Cho’s bombshell ll me another, this one om L, aga rmg him that Sulu was ed to be gay Star Trek Beyond. '” Takei was certa the creative team had rethought their cisn to make Sulu gay.

JOHN CHO NFIRMS THAT SULU IS GAY AND MARRIED "STAR TREK BEYOND"

Cho said was bound to e out that his character was gay, and “what should he do? “I really tried to work wh the people when at long last the issue of gay equaly was gog to be addrsed, ” Takei says. Takei for his part is hopg to take Sulu new directns as well, potentially on CBS’ upg Star Trek seri, slated to premiere January and -n by Alex Kurtzman and Bryan Fuller, who is openly gay.

Hika Sulu is now known as the first openly gay character  Star Trek, but the character's sexualy hasn't always been so clear-cut.

GEE TAKEI LLS 'STAR TREK BEYOND' GAY SULU SCENE 'A WHISPER'

In 2005, 36 years after Star Trek: The Origal Seri end, Sulu's origal actor, Gee Takei, publicly me out as gay. Wantg to honor this legacy, Simon Pegg me up wh the ia of havg Sulu be gay  J.

John Cho supported the ia, as did Zachary Quto, the actor who played Spock and who publicly me out as gay 2011. Why Takei Was Upset That Sulu Beme Gay.

'STAR TREK BEYOND'S SULU IS THE FRANCHISE'S FIRST GAY CHARACTER

Takei publicly disagreed wh wrer and Stty actor, Simon Pegg about the plan to make Sulu gay.

While he wholeheartedly supported the cln of LGBTQ+ characters  Star Trek, he thought a new character should be created stead of makg Sulu nonilly gay. Pegg was also wary of Takei's advice to create a new character simply to fulfill the purpose of havg a gay character, as he thought that would lim the character to tokenism.

Was Sulu Gay In The Wir Star Trek Canon?

HIKARO SULU PORTRAYED AS GAY NEW STAR TREK FILM, SAYS ACTOR JOHN CHO

The fact that his dghter existed many of the novels and gam don't preclu the possibily that Sulu might be gay. Abrams' Star Trek exist on different timel, 's possible to say that both a straight Sulu and a gay Sulu exist as part of the multiverse's non. One of the “Star Trek” universe’s most beloved characters is revealed to be gay the latt stallment of the inic anchise.

“I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thg out , which is where I hope we are gog as a speci, to not policize one’s personal orientatns, ” he and Pegg’s cisn to pict Sulu as a gay man was a nod to Gee Takei, who played the role the origal 1960s “Star Trek” televisn seri and six subsequent films, Cho said. Takei, 79, me out as gay 2005, and has sce gone on to bee an outspoken advote for LGBT rights.

UPDATE: After news of this story broke, Takei lled the cisn to pict Sulu as a gay man “really unfortunate” a Hollywood Reporter terview. In a tribute to his ongog legacy as an in of the Star Trek anchise, wrer Simon Pegg and director Jt L cid make Sulu nonilly gay the upg movie.

SULU IS AN OUT AND PROUD GAY MAN STAR TREK BEYOND, ACRDG TO JOHN CHOMUCH LIKE GEE TAKEI, THE ACTOR WHO PLAYED THE ORIGAL SULU THE FIRST STAR TREK TV SERI.BY HILLARY BISJULY 7, 2016LEFT, OM CBS PHOTO ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAG; RIGHT, URTY OF PARAMOUNT PICTUR.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVELOOKS LIKE STAR TREK BEYOND WILL BOLDLY GO WHERE NO STAR TREK FILM HAS GONE BEFORE: MELBOURNE’S HERALD SUN REPORTS THAT THE UPG MOVIE WILL PICT U.S.S. ENTERPRISE HELMSMAN HIKA SULU AS A GAY MAN RAISG A DGHTER WH HIS PARTNER. (VANY FAIR HAS REACHED OUT TO PARAMOUNT FOR NFIRMATN AND MENT, AND WILL UPDATE THIS POST ACRDGLY WHEN WE HEAR BACK.)SUCH A MOVE WOULD MARK A TONE FOR THE STAR TREK ANCHISE, WHICH, THOUGH FAMOLY TRAILBLAZG TERMS OF DIVERSY AND PROGRSIVE STORYL, HAS NEVER BEFORE FEATURED AN OPENLY GAY CREW MEMBER. JT DON’T EXPECT A DRAMATIC G-OUT MOMENT FOR SULU: “I LIKED THE APPROACH, WHICH WAS NOT TO MAKE A BIG THG OUT ,” ACTOR JOHN CHO, WHO PLAYS SULU THE NEW FILMS, TOLD THE HERALD SUN. “WHICH IS WHERE I HOPE WE ARE GOG AS A SPECI, TO NOT POLICIZE ONE’S PERSONAL ORIENTATNS.”CHO ALSO DITED THAT STAR TREK BEYOND SCREENWRER (AND -STAR) SIMON PEGG AND DIRECTOR JT L CID TO MAKE SULU OPENLY GAY AS AN HOMAGE TO GEE TAKEI, THE ACTOR WHO PLAYED SULU ON THE ORIGAL STAR TREK SERI. (SULU WAS NEVER GIVEN A ROMANTIC PARTNER OF EHER SEX PREV STAR TREK RNATNS, THOUGH HE DID HAVE A DGHTER.) THOUGH CLOSETED DURG THE SHOW’S N THE 1960S, TAKEI ME OUT PUBLICLY 2005, WHEN HE REVEALED THAT HE HAD BEEN WH HIS PARTNER, BRAD ALTMAN, FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS. THE PAIR MARRIED 2008.THE EXCG WORD ABOUT SULU’S ORIENTATN—AS WELL AS S LOW-KEY REVEAL—IS A NICE B OF POSIVE NEWS G OUT OF A PRS TOUR MARRED BY TRAGEDY: CHO, HIS ST, AND THE RT OF THE STAR TREK TEAM IS STILL GRAPPLG WH THE TRAGIC ATH OF THEIR RA ANTON YELCH, WHO DIED SUDNLY JUNE AT THE AGE OF 27. “IT’S VASTATG LOSG SOMEONE YOUR FAY,” CHO’S -STAR KARL URBAN TOLD THE HERALD SUN. “I’M HAVG A DIFFICULT TIME G TO GRIPS WH TALKG ABOUT HIM THE PAST TENSE—’S VERY RAW AND VERY PAFUL.”STAR TREK BEYOND OPENS JULY 22.MOST POPULARSARA RAMIREZ ISSU STHG RPONSE TO ANTI–CHE DIAZ PROFILEBY SAVANNAH WALSHHOW LILY JAM AND JOE KEERY BEME OLD HOLLYWOOD INS FALLY DAWNBY DAVID CANFIELD25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISHILLARY BIS

While Hollywood still has a long way to go terms of queer reprentatn, feels appropriate for Star Trek to be the first big sci-fi anchise to clu a gay character s ma st.

SIMON PEGG'S CANONIZED EXPLANATN OF WHY SULU IS GAY

Image source, PAImage ptn, Simon Pegg (send left) receiv a kiss om Chris Pe at Star Trek Beyond's UK premiereThe stars of the latt Star Trek film have stood behd s revelatn that long-standg character Sulu is gay. "I'm lighted that there's a gay character [ the film], " the 79-year-old told the Hollywood he claimed the "outg" of Hika Sulu was "a twistg" of Gene [Rodnberry]'s creatn, "to which he put so much thought" said Star Trek creator Rodnberry "was a strong supporter of LGBT equaly" but had always envisned Sulu as heterosexual.

THE WORLD NEEDS STAR TREK'S PROGRSIVE SEXUAL FUTURE, AND GAY SULU PROV

The actor - who went on to play Sulu the six Star Trek films ma between 1979 and 1991 - announced he was gay source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Gee Takei (left) and John Cho share the role of Sulu, helmsman of the Starship EnterpriseSpeakg on Tuday before Star Trek Beyond's UK premiere, Simon Pegg said the revelatn about Sulu's sexualy "don't change Gee's Sulu any way". "I was worried bee I knew [Gee] was a gay man who had played a straight character, " he told the BBC. "Quto, who is also openly gay, add: "The LGBT (Lbian Gay Bisexual Transgenr) muny has long advoted for reprentatn the Star Trek universe.

Well, that answers that latt Star Trek film, "Star Trek Beyond, " will nfirm that one of s ma characters -- Hika Sulu, played by John Cho -- is gay. And not only is he gay, but he is married and has a child, Cho revealed to Atralia's Herald Sun.

The reboot versn of Sulu is gay, we learned "Beyond, " the third of the new movi. Takei has said publicly he is agast the ia of Sulu beg gay, and he had plenty to say about here at the 50th anniversary Star Trek nventn Las Vegas.

SULU REVEALED AS GAY STAR TREK BEYOND, ACRDG TO JOHN CHO

Takei would have preferred for the reboot filmmakers to create a new gay character. " Takei says he has agreed to disagree on the issue of gay Sulu wh the movie's -wrer Simon Pegg, wh whom he has exchanged emails.

'Star Trek Beyond's Sulu Is the Franchise's First Gay Character. It's been nfirmed that USS Enterprise helmsman Litenant Hika Sulu is, fact, gay.

That mak Sulu the first openly gay character the storied anchise. Now, before folks out there start cricizg Paramount or the filmmakers of phg some kd of "gay agenda, " ask yourself this qutn: In a show about the far-flung future which a team of trepid space explorers do their bt to teract wh alien speci, exotic cultur, and a vast array of different cultur as peaceful a way as possible, wouldn't make ls sense for zero gay humans to be prent? Actor John Cho, who plays Hika Sulu the new Star Trek films, revealed that the character is portrayed as gay Jt L’s upg Star Trek an terview wh Atralia’s Herald Sun, Cho revealed that Sulu is picted the film as a lovg father a same-sex relatnship.

‘STAR TREK BEYOND’: JOHN CHO’S CHARACTER SULU IS OPENLY GAY

”Cho said the cisn by wrers L and Simon Pegg to make Sulu gay was done honor of Gee Takei, the openly gay actor who played the character origally.