Actor Ewan McGregor, star of the forthcoming limited Ryan Murphy series Halston, has opened up about his experience playing gay characters, and how he prepared for the show’s sex scenes.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, McGregor, 54, talks about playing a number of gay roles throughout his career, and how the approach to sex scenes has changed.
“This was the first thing I’ve ever done where we had an intimacy coordinator,” McGregor said of the series. It was such a relief. It’s about f*cking time. The temptation in my experience is just for the director to go, ‘Just do whatever.’ It’s embarrassing. That’s not fair on either actor to do that.”
He would know. Early in his career, McGregor played queer roles in a number of films including Velvet Goldmine and The Pillow Book, which required full-frontal nudity, and the actor to perform some graphic sex scenes.
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Related: How ‘Halston’ director Frederic Tcheng uncovered the world of a lost queer hero
Of course, attitudes about performing sex scenes aren’t the only thing that has changed over the course of McGregor’s 30-year career. The actor also addressed criticisms of his casting in the lead of Halston; McGregor is straight, while the character is gay.
“I hear the discussion and I respect both sides of it, I really do,” he said of the debate over the casting of queer roles. “I haven’t walked in Billy Porter‘s shoes. I don’t know what it’s like to lose out parts when you might feel it’s to do with your sexuality. So I can only respect his point of view.” McGregor’s allusion to Porter refers to a 2019 Hollywood Reporter story in which Porter expressed his frustration with straight actors playing gay characters for accolades while gay actors often struggle to get work.
“If it had been a story about Halston’s sexuality more, then maybe it’s right that gay actors should play that role,” McGregor further explained. “But in this case — and I don’t want to sound like I’m worming out of this, because it’s something I did think a lot about — I suppose ultimately I felt like it was just one part of who he was.”
McGregor then goes on to detail his extensive preparation for the role, including learning to sew, studying hours of film footage of Halston, and even meeting with Liza Minnelli to discuss the character. He also discusses his legacy with Star Wars, and the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+.
Halston arrives on Netflix May 14.
Fahd
I was reading right along until McGregor got to the spot where he said Halston’s sexuality was only one part of him – A great designer who happened to be gay?
As I understand the story, Halston’s sexuality was pretty defining and dominant in his life, and became more so over time. So I’m a little worried that this is going to be a limited series that is limited by the fact that a straight actor isn’t doing a very good job of portraying a 1970s gay designer of extraordinary talent and lust for life.
Maybe I’m underestimating how essential it was to cast McGregor. There’s plenty of actual film/video footage of Halston around, so I guess we’ll be able to see if he captures Halston’s essence.
Cam
Whenever Hollywood does a story about a gay person their sexuality is “Just a small part of who they are” and not a part of the movie, or a very small part.
And then when they do a story about say, Stephen Hawking, where the movie should be about his brilliance and the science he furthered, 80% of the movie is about whatever heterosexual Love story they could dig up from their life.
Kangol2
Halston once appeared on the TV show The Love Boat, if you can believe that. So did Andy Warhol. Not sure if any stations are showing the reruns, but several were not so long ago, and YouTube may have the clip, which shows Halston, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Bob Mackie, I think. In it, Halston was quite fem and elegant, so let’s see if McGregor can pull that off.
Fahd
@Cam
Good point, but this is Ryan Murphy…..
Joshooeerr
Yes, it’s Ryan Murphy. So it will be crap anyway.
Fahd
Ryan Murphy is hit or miss, but I’ve enjoyed some of his shows; I’ll keep an open mind until I see this one, but I’m worried I won’t like it.
butchqueen
The majority of McGregor’s films feature him fully nude. I look forward to this!
woodroad34
And I don’t know why they need an “Intimacy consultant”….I could have done it for free.
Leo
Oh, me too. Best looking 54 I’ve seen in a long time.
bowlingbutch
I remember reading a story a while back of an actor who had a scene in bed with Ewan. He said that between takes Ewan continued to stay in bed, hold him and made him feel more comfortable. It certainly made me respect him and I wish I could remember who the actor was. If we start limiting gay roles to gay actors then we wouldn’t we have to limit non-gay roles for non-gay actors. It is ACTING!
Leo
That is what they call it. With you on this and I am a gay actor. We have been doing straight roles since forever.
Cam
Except the constant freak-out by publications that somewhere, somehow a straight person MIGHT lose one role to a gay actor shows that the bigotry in Hollywood still exists.
If they hadn’t been blocking LGBTQ actors from getting roles for decades there wouldn’t be a push to have a few of them actually cast. How many LGBTQ roles are there each year? And the majority are still filled with straight actors, so the rage about a few people saying some LGBTQ actors should be cast is just more of the same old same old from Hollywood.
DK
I love this pretense that Hollywood doesn’t already limit gay actors from playing straight roles lol.
Can’t wait to see Tom Holland in the LeBron James biopic. IT’S ACTING!
amanwithanedge
the role should have gone to a gay man.
Jazz
Why?
Leo
Why?
Yooper
No, as much as fascism seems to be in vogue these days, there isn’t a directive to allocate roles.
ptb2016
So only serial killers should play serial killers? How many gay actors play straight and have done over the years? Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Matt Bomer, Jonathan Groff, many many others.
Cam
@Yooper
Then let me know when they cast Margaret Cho to play Abraham Lincoln ok?
Ohhhhh right, you were only ok with blind casting when it benefited straight or white actors.
DK
@ptb2016 Let’s cast Ewan McGregor as Martin Luther King next. How about Nicole Kidman as Oprah.
Nothing to see here: its acting! Nothing a little research and instruction can’t fix lol
MissTerri
It’s called acting. It means the person is portraying someone who they are not. If you can’t over that, then don’t watch it.
woodroad34
Normally I might agree with you….but then I remember the movie “Kiss of the Spider Woman” with William Hurt hideously playing a gay femme prisoner and having sex with a straight Raul Julia. So cringingly horrible….this is where a gay actor would have been a better choice. And then there’s Al Pacino in “Cruising”…..
Joshooeerr
But every tiny aspect of Cruising was awful and offensive. A gay actor in the role would have added just one thing: a gay actor collaborating with a nasty, homophobic piece of junk.
Cam
@MissTerri
Repeating my comment from above.
Then let me know when they cast Margaret Cho to play Abraham Lincoln ok?
Ohhhhh right, you were only ok with blind casting when it benefited straight or white actors.
MissTerri
Some of you queens are pretty dense. So you are saying only gay actors should be cast in gay roles so they can authentically represent the gay experience. By that same logic, gay actors should be excluded from playing any straight characters. I’m sure that’s not what you want. And by all means, cast no-talent Margaret Cho as Abe Lincoln. It would probably be hilarious!
Cam
@MissTerri
Well well well, what a shock, the account coming in here enraged that LGBTQ parts might be played by LGBTQ actors immediately lashes out with anti-gay language.
You trolls aren’t good at hiding are you?
MissTerri
@Cam
You’re not well, dear. Please take your medication.
Cam
@MissTerri
Translation: The troll account couldn’t defend it’s point, so lashed out.
MissTerri
@Cam
Please talk to your therapist about your obsession with “trolls.” I’ll pray for you.
theherald
@Cam
Not one person has expressed anger at the idea of LGBT actors playing LGBT characters. Not one person has used anti-gay language.
woodroad34
Ewan McGregor is fairly believable in gay roles….I liked him in that movie with Jim Carrey and Velvet Goldmine.
wooly101
Hell yeah, Obi won I’ll watch it for sure. I think McGregor is such a diverse actor.
Jeffrey
Can we stop with the “it’s acting” comments. Actors now do not play the opposite gender. Nor do they play other races. Over time, blackface has been recognized as racist. We have acknowledged that the minority character has a perspective that cannot readily be understood by the majority. It’s the same way for LGBTQ characters.
As for this role, the LGBTQ community has seen every one of its icons portrayed on screen by a straight person, who then condescendingly tells us that it’s okay — and usually gives them a female “love interest” to make us palatable to the masses. Da Vinci/Aiden Turner is a great example of that which is on TV now.
Ronbo
Even worse… why use fake actors? Dig up Halston and use Hollywood magic to re-animate him to be fully authentic. s/
If we can have gay actors playing straight we can have straight actors playing gay. Elliot Page proves your theory wrong. Aiden Turner ensures an audience. All of your Karen-screaming is for naught.
DK
@ronbo And where is this crush of out gay actors being cast in straight roles? I know you’re a Karen for the straight establishment, so I’m sure you’ll have a list.
theherald
@DK
The list is quite long. Andrew Rannels, Matt Bomer, Portia di Rossi, Neil Patrick Harris, Zachary Quinto, Kristen Stewart, Jim Parsons, David Hyde Pierce, Jonathan Groff, Jodie Foster, Luke Evans, and on and on and on. Gay actors have no problems playing straight roles. It’s also illegal to ask someone their sexual orientation in an audition. So unless the actor in question is already famous, casting gay actors exclusively in gay roles is quite literally an impossible task.
theherald
Unlike with a race, you cannot tell that someone is gay or straight just by looking at them. The comparison doesn’t make sense.
Jeffrey
“Andrew Rannels, Matt Bomer, Portia di Rossi, Neil Patrick Harris, Zachary Quinto, Kristen Stewart, Jim Parsons, David Hyde Pierce, Jonathan Groff, Jodie Foster, Luke Evans,”
Nearly all of these started their careers as closeted. Jodie Foster didn’t come out until she retired from acting. Luke Evans was out, and then went back in the closet to get more roles, and then was outed. Kristen Stewart pretended to be straight and in a relationship with a male actor for her career in Twilight. This is hardly an inspiring list of out gay actors.
Aiden Turner will get a big audience of people who will now assume that da Vinci was either bi or straight because of the female interest. Is that what we want?
ScottOnEarth
“It was just one part of who he was.” What a really stupid thing to say. It’s a safe bet that Halston would not have been as brilliant, creative and completely fabulous as he was if he weren’t gay. It was his platonic connection to – and love for – women that informed his work, which would very likely not be the case if he weren’t gay.
DK
I’m so sick of straight actors “researching” gays, like gays are some sort of subspecies. We don’t get these lame articles about gay actors “researching” straight sex because Hollywood won’t cast out gay actors in straight roles. Or apparently in gay roles either, which are reserved for straight actors who then get to bore us all with their performative open-mindedness. “Omg, it was so hard for me to play gay, look at all the work and research I did.” F*** off.
theherald
Nobody talks like that. You’re making up strawman arguments.
Zambos271
I get so tired of straight men being lauded for playing a gay role. Serial killer? Okay. Brain surgeon? Okay. Gay role? Omg, this shows how great if an actor you are and how you had to research and really go outside of yourself to play gay.
Ewan being the exception, but I am annoyed that straight actors have to constantly restate that they’re straight, how kissing a man and feeling his facial hair is so gross, or how they had to kiss the 1st woman they saw after filming a gay sex scene.
theherald
I haven’t heard straight actors talk like that in over a decade
Tarutaru
Y’all trying too hard. Sleeping with men and seeking romantic relationships with men does not define who I am. It is only a part of who I am. Yea. I am a person. I have my own story, m own personality, my own intelligence and my own heart. It is rather shallow and soulless to reduce all that to just “I’m a gay man who wears heals and says okkuurrr like all the rest of them”.
scrough
The folks on here who advocate for queer roles going to queer actors, are likely the same folks who would lose their minds if straight roles were reserved for only straight actors. It’s called ‘acting’ for a reason. I think any role should go to the actor most talented in the range of acting required to fit the role.