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

Contents:

• DOWNTON ABBEY'S THOMAS BARROW AND THE FUTURE OF THE GAY PAST
• DOWNTON ABBEY ACTOR SAYS GAY ROLE HURT HIS CAREER — BUT IS HE RIGHT?
• DOWNTON ABBEY’S ROB JAM-COLLIER REVEALS REACTN TO ‘HORRIFIC’ GAY STORYLE
• ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ ACTOR SAYS PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER HAS LEFT HIM “TYPEST”
• DOWNTON ABBEY STAR ROB JAM-COLLIER CLAIMS PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER LEFT HIM 'TYPEST'
• THE ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ MOVIE GAY BAR SCENE IS ACTUALLY PRETTY HISTORILLY ACCURATE

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

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

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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. 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 CLAIMS PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER LEFT HIM 'TYPEST'

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. There are straight actors who have turned down gay rol for var reasons, cludg a fear would lim future opportuni.

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

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. Over the seasons, the seri revealed that Thomas’ schem were motivated by his stggle as a closeted gay man livg early 20th century England.

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. 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 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.