“If I were to be really honest, there was a homophobic voice that rose up inside me that said, ‘Gee, this is kind of scary.’ First of all, what will people think, and second of all, will I like it? Will I like kissing Ewan? How will that affect me? There were a few people in my world who said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ And that still exists. I said ‘Absolutely’ because, sexual preference aside, it is a story that is so compelling and interesting and different. It’s about humanity. It is about you love who you love. And love is love. And that’s it.” —I Love You Phillip Morris star Jim Carrey on playing the gay character Steven Russell
Lynn
I give Jim Carrey credit for fessing up. Especially since he also said, when asked at Sundance what it was like kissing Ewan McGregor:
“A dream come true. I mean, look at the guy.”
Still, no one has outclassed Susan Sarandion on same-sex intimacy on screen:
“When we were doing it, I was supposed to be very, very drunk. You wouldn’t have to get drunk to bed Catherine Deneuve.”
PearlsBeforeSwine
Perhaps they could promote the film on Tyra. You know, Gay for Pay?
logan767
Yeah, must be really tough kissing someone you’re not particularly attracted too. How brave.
Paul Raposo
This wouldn’t have been a problem if they hired actors who are gay.
Larry
I think it’s great that Jim Carrey played this role, but I don’t think it was homophobic for him to feel weird about kissing a dude. I mean, I would feel weird about kissing a girl for the same reason, but that doesn’t mean I have a phobia.
GJR
I think Jim Carrey was really great about it. That’s the whole point – straight men are welcome to feel “weird” about it themselves just as long as they acknowledge that there is nothing wrong with people feeling differently.
I know people scoff at straight actors who play gay men, saying it rarely can work the other way. But I think this is important too. Like it or not, our culture is a TV/media culture. You can reach some people by letter writing campaigns, PSA’s but others you can reach by having gay characters on As the World Turns, primetime shows and the movies. I saw several people moved by Brokeback Mountain in ways that a media campaign cannot. The same applies to Milk. If people can see straight actors and actresses playing gay and lesbian roles, it is just another way for them to see it is not some horrible, horrendous thing to fear.
There are more out actors now than ever before: Ellen, Portia di Rossi, Sara Gilbert, Neil Patric Harris, Amanda Bearse, Rupert Everett…
It’s too bad people like Montgomery Clift, James Dean and Rock Hudson had to hide in the closet..
GJR
@Paul Raposo:
Not necessarily, there are a whole lot of gay people I would not want to kiss..
But there have been a ton of gay actors over the years who have had to kiss people of the opposite sex. If Robert Reed had to kiss Florence Henderson as Mr. Brady, it can’t hurt Jim Carrey to kiss Ewan. If it were me, I’d demand constant retakes of the kissing scenes to get it just right…
Ted
Who wouldn’t want to kiss Ewan? He is dreamy! And he likes to get nekkid in his films!
Rigato
I think Carrey represents a very mature point of view. He acknowledges he feels wierd about it, but hell, he had his mind open to the idea of liking it. No, I wouldn’t say he’s changed much, but Carrey remains one of my favorite actors. He’s right; love is love.