When gay director Todd Holland told an Outfest panel the best way for young gay male actors to make in the biz is to stay in the closet, he started a (mostly civilized) back-and-forth debate among different players about 1) whether his advice is true; and 2) even if it’s true, whether gay Hollywood should be encouraging anyone to stay closeted. Holland ended up apologizing-ish, but the issue didn’t die there. When fellow gay director Jason Bushman introduced his film Hollywood, je t’aime at Outfest on Friday night, he went after Holland directly.
Bushman’s film was a perfect meta scenario for this whole debate: Hollywood, je t’aime is about a gay Parisian man who heads to Hollywood to make it big as an actor, where his sexuality, among other things, plays a part in his journey. But before the opening credits rolled, Bushman (pictured, right) addressed Holland’s statements: “This is something I’ve given a lot of thought to,” he said. “From the get go on this movie, my wonderful casting director Jeremy Gordon … he discussed discussed how important it was to cast openly gay actors in openly gay roles.”
Indeed, from big names like Chad Allen to first-timers like Eric Debets, Hollywood, je t’aime (pictured, below) is filled with openly gay actors. And it represents a wholly different approach to casting than Holland’s theory: Let the openly gay not only star in a film, but star in a film with gay characters.
Of course, Hollywood, je t’aime probably isn’t going to see a wide release anytime soon; expect it to play the art houses and maybe HereTV. Unless you’ve got some serious star power attached (of the straight variety), films about gay male love stories do not get much attention from mainstream distributors.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
And perhaps that should be a footnote to Holland’s larger argument about gay actors not getting far: Gay movies don’t get very far either. Should we then be telling gay directors and producers not to make movies about what they know?
Folks like Bryan Singer and Roland Emmerich already took that advice; these two gay powerhouses eschew that genre for blockbusters. And yet somehow big gays like John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig), Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry), and Pedro Almodóvar (Law of Desire) don’t have a problem cashing cheques in queer cinema.
Dabq
Holland’s right, if you want to make it, stay in the closet as there are many millions who will not take you as gay, Chad Allen was a “it” boy, came out and couldn’t even get on the lot where he worked for years. Hollywood is as an intolerant place as all out if its in front of the camera. That said, its a personal choice and maybe if some of the A-list stars would come out, the road would be less rocky for the younger ones.
mk
To be fair Bryan Singer made blockbuster genre movies (the Xmen movies) that included clear gay subtext like that “have you tried not being a mutant?” stuff when the kid comes out as a mutant to his parents.
The Gay Numbers
Let me know when this person has a summer blockbuster.
Amygdala
The business veterans just aren’t going to come out…well maybe in posthumous biographies.
Is Jodie Foster out, maybe a little bit out? Any other big-time stars?*
As for the men, it’s even less likely, unless they can sing and dance and head to Broadway, or they are content with being character actors.
* Does not apply to British actors.
The Gay Numbers
@Amygdala: it applies to brits too. If you are talking about someone openning a weekend movie.
Robert, NYC
@The Gay Numbers:
Not so much when it comes to the Brits. Ian McKellen received a knighthood from the Queen after he came out during a stage performance in London’s west end. His sexuality had nothing to do with anything and he still gets work. What about John Barrowman? Openly gay and getting work in the UK, didn’t harm his career, currently in a BBC sci-fi series Torchwood, now in its second, possibly third season I believe, a series written by a gay writer, Russell Davies.
galefan2004
@Dabq: Chad Allen is a horrible example. There were a lot of things holding him back. Probably the biggest is he lost his looks. As a tween star he was actually able to be looked at. As an adult star, not so much. If you can’t keep the audience’s attention in a movie because they would rather watch paint dry than look at you it doesn’t matter if you are gay or not. If you want to watch someone’s career that actually is out and will most likely be going to some huge places anyways then watch for Scott Evans.
Krysan
Scott Evans is pushing it. I’d hardly call a minor part in a soap opera as “going to some huge places”. And Todd Holland is right. If people want to put their head under the sand and pretend gay actors don’t have a hard time, then do so.
galefan2004
@Krysan: You are an idiot if you think that One Life to Live is not a starting point for many careers. Hell, Ryan Phillipe started his career playing a gay character on One Life to Live. I said GOING PLACES not that he is actually there yet.
The Gay Numbers
@Robert, NYC: None of the actors you mention will ever open a tent pole movie as stars. The best you can come up with are stars. No one said there can not be stars. They said they can not open a movie or do what Hollywood would want them to do at the box office to make them what Hollywood calls “bankable.” In other words, with their names attached- they make the money back for Hollywood.
I am talking about Tom Cruise level of star power. The reality is that every actor in their career for the most part starts with wanting that kind of boxoffice pull. And if not that, they want to kind of critical pull of a Daniel day Lewis or a Sean Penn. Both of whom are awards magnets.
These are the two realities for megastars in Hollywood. I am not talking run of the mill famous actor. I am talking an actor who has a career in which he or she can make their own decisions. That’s rare. Everyone has their choices limited.
If you asked most people about Torchwood, they would have no idea what you are talking about. I like Torchwood, but let’s keep this in the land of reality rather than wishful thinking.
The Gay Numbers
@Robert, NYC: By the way, this bankability matters. Before Will Smith, Hollywood would tell you that no black actor could ever open a blockbuster summer event. That shaped all other projects that you saw about black America out of Hollywood. I was once told by a producer that she was told that blacks, for example, could not do Sci fi because no one would “buy them in those roles.” This is the mindset. Even once you have a bankable actor who is gay, you will still face an uphill battle because Hollywood is mostly conservative, and will assume it is just a fluke. So you got to consistently prove that there are bankable gay stars. And the UK is part os that international machine- despite local stars.
mark
Anyone think T. R. Knight’s career is going anywhere post “Grey’s?
Joseph
I have to agree with Galefan2004: Scott Evans is just starting out on One Life to Live (and, as he correctly points out, soaps are traditionally a great starting point for actors–not only did Ryan Phillippe get his start on OLTL, but other stars began their careers on soaps: Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei, Julianne Moore all had their first major roles on As the World Turns). Scott Evans has the looks and ability to be a potentially major actor–his comic timing is wonderful and he has the body/frame that would be perfect for an action role, such as a soldier.
testington
@Dabq: I’m sorry but I’m sick of Chad Allen peddling his sob story all the time. He doesn’t get work because he isn’t good looking and never was very talented. If he were as good looking, talented and charming as Niel Patrick Harris, or a young Rupert Everett he would be getting work.
TANK
It’s not worth coming out if you have aspirations of achieving A list celebrity status. It’ll destroy your career, obviously. Career suicide. SUre, you’re gonna make small inroads into queer acceptance in the showbidness and just might help little joey in nebraska come to grips with his…corn, but at the expense of star power and A list status. YOu’ll never be a lead…and it likely will fuck up your chances at b list status, too. You see, the fellas that run the mainstream entertainment industry (industries, actually) are deeply homophobic little boys (it’s a club), and america isn’t ready for a gay A list actor, and won’t be for a looong looong time. Doesn’t make the breeder men (bromance) and women lust after ’em, ya see, and pay to watch ’em in movies.
And you certainly don’t get any love from the gays, who are for the most part just like every other consumer group, and just don’t have the numbers push anyone over the top no matter how loyal (which wouldn’t happen).
I love how people trot out NPH (as if that’s an ACTOR! puhleeze, that sitcom star spent most of his career in the closet and never had the potential to be an a list celebrity) and ian mckellan (a fluke and eldery man before he made it, and character actor) as if that somehow addresses the point.
Rupert Everett’s coming out destroyed his career, without question, and it’s the same hollywood it was. Blah blah blah, he’s a prima donna and hard to work with–so are dozens of A list actors who get steady work and aren’t as good looking or talented as he was.
Ricky
Out Out! Why is an actor’s sexuality of any importance to anyone anyway? Is it “strength in numbers?” If some tabloid is about to make an example of you, I suppose you have to react, but other than that, whose business is it? By the way, Outfart was horrible.
Joseph
Sorry, Tank. I refuse to have a negative mindset. It’s inevitable that we will have an out A-list star (as well as an out pro athlete at the peak of his game). And I suspect it will happen sooner than you think.
schlukitz
Impossible Things are Happening Every Day – Julie Andrews as the fairy godmother in Cinderella.
Sorry if that sounds airy-fairy, but it seemed appropriate to the theme of this thread.
The point being that if we do not consider the impossible as possible, then we will remain where we are stuck and have no one to blame but ourselves.