Apparently gay actors can't play straight

Goodshape

Article in Newsweek suggesting that gay actors should not, or can not, play straight characters.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/236999

Blatantly ridiculous if you ask me, but thought it might be worth comment anyway.


....and I also just wanted to post this, for lolz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLDrntGjvo8

Jane Lynch, who plays the straight Sue Sylvester, is gay btw. I bet she's not even a real cheerleading coach!. The guy who wrote the Newsweek article is gay too.

Glee's creator and many others are obviously none too happy about the article.

syklops

I only recently discovered that Niles from Frasier was gay. Came as a surprise I can tell you.

MJRS

Actually 4 out of the 5 lead male roles in Frasier were gay!

Wibbs

Yea like there isnt a history of gay actors and actresses playing hetrosexual roles. :rolleyes: Hell for most of hollywoods history and even until today, there should have been oscars handed out all over the place for their off screen acting ability. Rock Hudson's fans got a bit of a shock in the end that's for sure.......

Stark

MJRS wrote: »

Actually 4 out of the 5 lead male roles in Frasier were gay!

No... Not Eddie...

ElectricGirl

Barney in How I met your Mother plays a very convincing straight I think

Goodshape

The article does make the point though that it's less of an issue if you choose not to come out.

Newsweek wrote:

For all the beefy bravado that Rock Hudson projects on-screen, Pillow Talk dissolves into a farce when you know the likes of his true bedmates.

...presumably if he had stayed in the closet, it'd still be an acceptable performance. A bit like how it's now hard to accept Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson playing sane characters?

It's obvious enough that if an actors personal life goes wildly public it can colour peoples perception of them, but the conclusions in the article are just so stupidly simplistic they're really hardly even worth getting worked up about. For all the bad gay actors who can't escape their own mold, there's plenty ****ing great ones who just get on with the job and play the character on the page.

KnifeWRENCH

Goodshape wrote: »

Ar
....and I also just wanted to post this, for lolz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLDrntGjvo8

When I saw the thread title, I thought it was gonna be entirely about this. Sue!

Anyway, I really don't think the writer of the article has much of a point. He seems to base it all on one unconvincing performance he saw on Broadway where a gay guy struggled to play straight.
There are loads of gay actors out there that are very convincing in straight roles; Jane Lynch, Jonathan Groff, Portia de Rossi, David Hyde Pierce, Neil Patrick Harris. I'm sure there are many more.

So I really don't get this.

Handsome Bob

Newsweek's Ramin Setoodeh talks about his feelings on gay actors in straight roles;

http://www.newsweek.com/id/236999

Entertainment Weekly's response to Setoodeh's article;

http://www.newsweek.com/id/236999

Sean Hayes' co-star Kristin Chenoweth's response to Setoodeh's article;

http://www.broadway.com/shows/promises-promises/buzz/152350/promises-star-kristin-chenoweth-speaks-out-on-horrendously-homophobic-newsweek-article-defends-sean-hayes/

I have to say that I never really thought about this at all. In theory, it is the actor's purpose to act a role. If the actor is good enough then his real life personality should be buried, his apparent campness should not be an issue.

I haven't seen Hayes in Promises, Promises but I have seen bits of Groff in Glee. I've seen enough of him to say that "He has to be gay!" never once crossed my mind. There is no "pink" elephant in the room, no more than you would expect from Glee anyway.

When I was discussing this with someone they brought up NPH in How I Met Your Mother; I don't watch the show but I'm told his character is very straight and NPH has no problem with performing the role, which is what you would expect from a good actor. But that is a comedic show, which would perhaps not be hard for a gay man to get a straight role.

Is there a Hollywood conspiracy like Rupert Everett suggested a few months ago? I mean would an openly gay man ever get big action roles? Would they be allowed to carry films and would they get big juicy dramatic straight roles? If Russell Crowe or Christian Bale were openly gay (as opposed to being openly straight as they are) would they have gotten all the roles they have gotten over the years? I would like to think they would, as I said at the start if an actor is good enough then their personal lives should be an irrelevant issue.

I suppose the most interesting question would be do you think it would put off the general audience (both male and female) if they were aware the action man is gay in real life? After all, one could argue that it might crush the illusion for guys wanting to be the action man, and women wanting to be with the big action man. This, if accurate, could make or break the commercial success of a film.

unreggd

At the end of the day, hollywood films are all about makin money.

I think global society as a whole is still too narrow-minded to not pass on a film if they knew the lead actor was gay, playing a straight character

Besides, I'm sure there's plenty of assumed-straight action-heroes who are actually gay

out of sight, out of mind, etc


I was watchin the Transporter films and noticed, esp in the first one, its very heavy on gay themes / references. But they're still a successful series of big-budget "lad's films"


Good reply from Kristin Chenowith

rannerap

i think its all a bit stupid to be honest,reminds me of the story of will and grace,john barrowman an openly gay man auditioned for the role of will,and didnt get it because he apparently wasnt gay enough:rolleyes:,the role then went to eric McCormack a straight guy!

Confused92

Of course gay actors can act straight, take zachary quinto for example, he has played two major straight roles, sylar(heroes) and of course Spock(star trek). Personally I had no idea he was gay until I found out he is acctually a gay rights activist!

Stark

You don't have to be gay to be a gay rights activist.

Confused92

Ya I suppose that's true but he does have a boyfriend...

Killer_banana

I don't understand this. The writer claims his words were misunderstood but there's nothing about that article that doesn't seem definite. He said he was trying to start a debate but rather than citing his opinion the article just seems to be him stating what he believes as fact. Any exception to the 'rule' that he mentions, such a Neil Patrick Harris, he immediately shoots down because he's playing a caricature. To me the article didn't so much feel like an opinion piece as it did a man repeatedly screaming 'I AM RIGHT'. As for his comments about Jessie in Glee, I'll agree his performance at times seems off but I never once thought 'Oh he's gay, that's why.' I just though he was a bad actor. I really don't understand this article one bit, it's written by a gay man after all.