Actor Neil Patrick Harris has weighed in on the ongoing backlash to heterosexual actors playing gay roles. The 47-year-old, Emmy-winning actor maintains the best actor for the role should get the job.
Harris, who has played a variety of straight and gay characters on stage and screen throughout his career, shared his thoughts with The Times.
“I think there’s something sexy about casting a straight actor to play a gay role — if they’re willing to invest a lot into it,” Harris said. “I played a character for nine years [the womanizing Barney on How I Met Your Mother] who was nothing like me. I would definitely want to hire the best actor.”
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“In our world that we live in you can’t really as a director demand that [an actor be gay or straight],” Harris added. “Who’s to determine how gay someone is?”
The remarks come as a subtle rebuttal to Harris’ current director, Russell T. Davies of the upcoming British series It’s a Sin. Davies has vocally criticized other films and series–including those made by queer producers, directors and writers–for casting heterosexual actors as LGBTQ people. Davies also claims that casting gay actors as heterosexual characters is not a double standard, as LGBTQ people face more discrimination.
Cam
Let’s remember something.
Harris had been faking being a straight guy his entire life, so playing a straight guy isn’t a stretch.
Also, straight actors hadn’t been denied jobs in Hollywood for decades becuase of bigotry.
Lastly, Harris was outted involuntarily. So he was fine with living in the glass closet.
I’m still waiting for the list of the thousands of straight actors who are losing jobs by not being cast in the 1 or 2 LGBTQ roles that Hollywood casts every few years.
DuMaurier
The job opportunity aspect is unarguable; I assume we all know it wasn’t that long ago being openly gay was a career killer in Hollywood. That’s a legit real world point separate from the “abstract” question of whether straights playing gay is equivalent to blackface (I say no it isn’t)
But something Harris says is absolutely true, at least to gay men of my generation; it IS sexy to see a straight hunky guy playing gay. When I saw “Making Love” in my early 20’s, or Christopher Reeve kissing a man onscreen, it was BECAUSE it was (presumed) straight men doing it that made it exciting. Maybe that’s old-fashioned non-PC thinking nowadays, but openly gay men in those roles wouldn’t have had the same charge. It’s the reason for porn sites centered on straights (supposedly) going gay for pay; why so much gay erotica centers on “breaking down” the macho hetero stud, etc.
Again, that may be considered reactionary, unhealthy—whatever; but we can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.
Brian
You’re right — the history is different. There have never been laws saying that straight people can’t get jobs. Gay actors were blacklisted. Gay directors, producers, etc., were blacklisted. The federal government called gay people such an extreme threat to national security that gay people were fired from the IRS, the National Park Service, etc. It’s totally bonkers to compare that to the plight of a straight man who desperately wants to pretend to be gay.
Liquid Silver
(Cough) I’m fine with a diversity of opinions, just like a diversity of people.
Saps48
Let’s also remember that Harris came out publicly to People magazine in 2006, over 14 years ago, when he was 33 years old. He was in the beginning of the second season of How I Met your mother, and went on to portray a horny straight guy for the next eight seasons.
Cam
After he was outted in the blogs.
johnnymcmxxx
I want the best actors for the part. I certainly do not want Gay actors only allowed to play Gay characters. That would be intentional stifling of talent. Gay actors should be permitted to play both Gay & straight roles. And so should straight actors.
Dymension
I agree with Neil Patrick Harrison. If you are a actor, you can play many parts. If you are basing casting on a gay person not being able to do straight roles, then you don’t have a good actor. Remember, it’s acting. It’s make believe. That role is not you!
If a woman is playing a rape victim, must you find an actress who has gone through rape in order for it to be believable?
Brian
False equivalence. There has never been a point in history when people who didn’t get raped couldn’t get jobs.
Donston
People keep saying that sexuality and the orientation spectrum are so varied and are impossible to calculate. You determine how “gay” someone is or even what is “gay”. We also shouldn’t be looking to invade actors’ personal business during the casting process. Wanting more “gays” in “gay” roles is fine. Demanding it opens up a lot of problematic things. However, a lot of these folks with Harris’ opinion fail to touch on the variety of reasons some people started opposing “straight” actors in “gay” roles in the first place. Also, the “sexy” comment doesn’t do anything but hint towards “straight” fetishism. The idea of a “straight” committing to a “gay” role being something special and deserving of applause is an old-fashioned and condescending viewpoint.
Mack
The best actor gets the role. It’s called ACTING for a reason. Same goes for the LGBTQ actors, they shouldn’t just get role for being LGBTQ they should get the roles for acting doing the job.
CurtisIsTheOne
I’m ALL for casting the BEST actor/actress in a GAY or STRAIGHT role. Shit, people. Wake Up
Catholicslutbox
The “best” actor for any role is always the most marketable and not the most suited.
Cam
This is such a perfect grift for Hollywood bigotry.
They spend decades denying work to any LGBTQ actors. Now, suddenly, when they no longer have the excuse that the audience won’t accept LGBTQ actors as a reason to screen them out, they engage in false hysteria over a problem that doesn’t exist….straight actors not getting work becuase of all the thousands of parts playing LGBTQ roles not going to them.
If they had been casting LGBTQ actors over the years, there would be more big names to compete for roles, but they’ve screened them out, and now are using the excuses of “Oh, we WOULD case them, but there aren’t any big name LGBTQ people we can find”. Well yeah, they aren’t there because they never allowed any non straight actors to get big.
I’ll wait for this problem to actually exist before I hyperventilate over the straight actors that aren’t getting cast.
Den
Except nowhere in the article does anybody “hyperventilate” over anything or claim straight actors are losing jobs.
The point is it is acting.
A craft where people get into the heads of a character that is not them, and where casting is determined by the required physical characteristics and the actor’s demonstrated skills. Not by who they are in real life…movies are fiction and artifice.
End of story.
And you keep harping on Harris having been outed, rather than coming out. That could not be less relevant in this context and is more a reflection of how you personally feel others should behave than of Harris’ life or talent.
If you want to deal with the actualities of discrimination in Hollywood, lets talk about how crowds are cast, how generic couples are depicted as extras, how race and sex and sexuality are cast in characters where the script does not specify, and how sex, age and sexuality determine pay scale.
Cam
@Den
Except for the fact that there is ANOTHER article on this non-existent problem every 3 weeks on here. Again, point me to the crowd of straight actors who have not been cast in the 2 or 3 LGBTW roles that Hollywood deigns to put out every few years.
You know what can be pointed out? The thousands of LGBTQ people who were never given a chance to be hired due to the bigotry of screening them out.
And again now that Hollywood is finally being asked to hire a few, they invent this problem that doesn’t exist.
Den
Have to add that Harris thinking it is “sexy” to cast a straight actor in a gay role is rather silly.
A well written role can be sexy. A good acting job can be sexy. A sexy actor in a sexy role can be sexy. There is nothing intrinsically sexy about straight playing gay, gay playing straight, or either playing itself.
Donston
In the interview Neil talks about putting less emphasis on “labels” and how everyone should focus on them less, yet he turned around and used “straight” identities to support his fantasies and his stance. The hypocrisy is overt. Despite all the years of PR training, so many of these actors have no idea how they end up coming off and how certain words and sentences will end up being perceived. I get that people are a sea of contradictions and biases, but he should have known better.
This is a complicated discussion, because it’s tackling a lot of things at once. Identities, sexuality and orientation are very personal and individual things. You can never really know someone’s “sexuality” as sexuality is a bunch of different things (the different types and rates of attractions, arousal, desire, enjoyment, fetishes, comfort, who you like pleasing, what you’re willing to indulge, what you’re not willing to indulge). You don’t know if someone has experienced different degrees of fluidity. You don’t know if someone is closeted. You don’t know where someone is in the gender, romantic, sexual, affection, emotional investment, commitment spectrum despite their identities. You’re also tackling issues of representation, hetero pressures, “straight” worship and privilege, casting bias, invading people’s privacy, the glass ceiling, and who is “best” for whatever job. Very few of these actors who broach this subject tackle it with the sensitivity and nuance it deserves.
Cam
On this point we agree.
phillycap
As an actor, you are investing and immersing yourself in the character. You are not you. You are the character. And if a str8 dude can commit to doing that convincingly, then yes. I think European actors (many of whom are straight) totally commit to it and you weren’t sitting there going hum, he’s straight playing a gay role. Because “he” has disappeared into his character. The problem arises when you have straight actors who have to kiss their same sex counterpart and it’s so obvious that they are uncomfortable because it’s like the worst kiss ever. Like kissing your grandad. Bottom line, if you cannot commit to going whole hog into the role, don’t bother because doesn’t matter how well you can deliver the lines, people aren’t going to buy it if you can’t fully commit.
graphicjack
lord, so he’s still a total douche. I remember reading an article in either Out or Advocate where he was saying that he was somehow a better actor because he could butch it up (really, queen? you think you’re butch? that’s cute.) and that it was important for our community to have masculine gay men as role models. He ended up trying to ‘apologize’ for the obviously disgusting comments but it was a weak ass apology at best. He clearly thinks that straight or straight acting guys are hotter and ‘better’ than femme or more recognizably gay guys. If that’s your preference, fine. You may want to look at that internalized homophobia, but that’s on you. But to say that shit out loud for anyone to hear? Nah, sis. Shut the hell up. You’re perpetuating a type of hierarchy and caste system that’s really damaging to our community. If straight/butch guys are better, that means gay/femme guys are worse. As for me, I can find either type sexy… it depends on who they are. I’ve found femme guys can blow you to another dimension and we all know some ‘butch’ guys who will grab their ankles the second a dick comes near them. What utter nonsense that a straight guy playing gay is somehow sexier. Have a seat, Doogie.
Donston
In the past, Neil has hyped up masculinity. However, I do recall him talking about appreciating the variety of “queerness” once he played Hedwig. Either way, it’s apparent that Neil is still messy and prone to have foot-in-mouth moments.
519
I was just thinking about this the other day. I’m all for equal opportunities, but I think in the end the best actor should get a role, regardless of sexuality. I remember in the Crisis on Earth-X crossover on CW Wentworth Miller and Russel Tovey, two out and proud gay guys played a couple and they had zero chemistry, I think it was very cringy, while for example on Brothers and Sisters Matthew Rhys and Luke Macfarlane did a great job making the audience believe that they are actually in love, and only the latter is gay. Sure, this is only one example, and we could list a lot of examples where straight guys played horrible gay couples, but there’s no guarantee that gay actors would have done it better just because they are gay. What I actually wanna see is more LGBTQ people in main straight roles in big blockbuster movies to prove that gays can be just as tough and heroic as straight people.
iminheatlikeacat
Re: Your last paragraph: Who would your picks be?
519
@iminheatlikeacat
I would be fine with anyone. A lot of actors have already done it on the small screen like Jonathan Groff, John Barrowman, Matt Bomer etc. and Luke Evans also did it on the big screen. They should be given a chance for main roles in big movies in my opinion. For example, I could have imagined Jonathan Groff playing Peter Parker during his university years or something like that.
trsxyz
I would never have weighed in on this issue. What a minefield! Stupid comment about straight guys playing gay being somehow sexier…? His publicist is NOT happy…
cuteguy
Do you really think Doogie would have been hired for “How I Met Your Mother” had he been out prior to the initial casting of that show? Of course not. Same for Jim Parsons in Big Bang Theory, even tho his character was mostly asexual. Unfortunately there’s still discrimination for LGBT actors and all of us really. There is definitely change going on, especially with today’s youth, but for the most part discrimination is still prevalent. It’s a personal choice what to do. Ask Rupert Everett.
Donston
It is telling that the most “problematic” and nuance-less viewpoints are coming from actors who are at least in their late 30s and who got breakthrough roles before being publicly “out”.
A lot of these actors don’t want to admit that some of the biased casting and closet pressures are coming from “queers” who get off on hooking up with or fantasies about “straight” or closeted actors. They don’t want to admit that the industry is full of internalized homophobia, “gay” insecurities, hetero pressures, masculine pressures and general horrible shit. They don’t truly want to talk about the individualism of identity, sexuality, fluidity and the orientation spectrum. Finally, they don’t want to admit that because they have decent enough careers they really don’t care about anyone else’s.
So, because they’re not keeping it 100, they end up coming off phony and saying silly shit.
inbama
Everett likes to blame homophobia for his career problems, but the truth is he was exotically beautiful in 1985’s “Dance With A Stranger.” Ten short years later, his forehead seemed to have grown, and when you no longer have the leading man looks, the leading man roles go away. He’s certainly had a busy career ever since, but as a mature character actor.
Donston
There’s now this rewriting of history because a lot of people don’t like Rupert. His career likely had peaked before he “came out”. But it came to a complete standstill once he did. He quickly went from getting a lot of work to Barry any. And there was a decade where he wasn’t able to get any roles, not any, that wasn’t “gay’ sidekick”. It definitely did some damage no matter how you feel about Rupert.
I do think bringing up Rupert at this point serves little purpose. That was a couple decades ago. We still hear many stories about people being told to put on hetero or “less ‘gay” personas. We still hear about closet pressures. Almost all the dudes who are “out” and still getting work wasn’t “out” when they broke through. We still don’t have any legit leading males who are unabashedly into their sex. The industry is still full of a lot of “straight” worship, homo inferiority complexes and internalized homophobia. Things have gotten better. And demanding that only “gay” actors play “gay” roles is nearsighted, because it opens up too many issues of even more bias but also issues of invasion of privacy. It as well opens up issues of sexuality, individuality, fluidity, identity, the orientation spectrum and what “gay” and “queer” and all these other identities actually mean. However, the facts are still the facts, and a lot of people don’t like confronting them.
Cam
And did you notice that after Parson’s being gay became a point of discussion in public they immediately got his character a girlfriend on the show?
Hdtex
So he’s cool with white actors in blackface playing African-Americans?
Donston
Y’all really need to stop using race as a go-to comparison. (I’m pretty sure most who make the comparison are white). A black person doesn’t have to “come out”. And while there are some arguments towards accepting “trans-racial” people, race is ultimately about DNA, sociology and visuals, and it’s passed on from your parents.
There is no way to “prove” sexuality. Straight, gay, bi, pan, queer, etc. are identities people choose to or choose not to embrace, whether or not they are inherently hetero, homo, bi, whatever. There’s no way to “prove” any of it. What “sexuality” actually is is also something up for debate. “Sexuality” can be a lot of different things (the different types and rates of attractions, arousal, enjoyment, desire, passion, who you like pleasing, who you like getting affirmation from, what you’re willing to indulge, what you’re unwilling to indulge). Sexuality has some fluidity for some people and not for others. While the gender, romantic, affection, sexual, emotional investment, commitment spectrum is varied. And whether someone “comes out” or not is a choice.
It’s not comparable to race. It will never be a comfortable comparison. So, please find another way to support your stance. There’s a lot of interesting and nuanced “queer” issues to discuss, even on this topic. But let’s leave race out of it.
Cam
@Donston
You and I have agreed and disagreed on here a lot. This is a very straight forward request. When you say things like “There is no way to prove………”
Please site your sources.
Donston
Everyone has very different ideas about what “sexuality” is. Is it desire or lack of desire? Is it arousal or lack of arousal? Is it about enjoyment or preferences or lifestyle or behaviors or passions? And what about fluidity? What about who you want to love? What about the gender, romantic, affection, emotional and commitment aspects of orientation? There is no consensus answer to this stuff. So, you can’t “prove” something when we don’t know what something is exactly. And while tons of studies have been done, there hasn’t been a “gay gene” found or persistent patterns among “gays”. Heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual are still not even scientific terms. “Sexuality” and orientation and identity are still up for debate and still intangible things and very personal things. People like yourself need to get more comfortable with that. Never mind that a black person does not have the option to stay “closeted”.
Even if you don’t take any of those things into regard, it’s still not comparable to race. So, I’mma need you and everyone else who keeps bringing race into this argument to stop doing so. There’s a lot of necessary conversation to be had, but folks like you keep pushing the conversation into basic, often problematic territory.
Cam
@Donston
Except the scientific literature says at this point that it is something from birth. These are your opinions, but you are expressing them as if they are excepted fact. That is not the case. What you are saying is getting close to the old “Gay is a choice” mantra that the religious right used for decades to insinuate that LGBTQ people were just wild nilists who felt like partying and spitting in the face of “Decent” people.
Donston
Once again, people like you love to turn this type of conversation into what is a “choice” and start talking about what homophobes preach. This isn’t about homophobes or choice. It’s about being honest and real. Science has proven arousal to some degree. That is all it’s proven. Nothing beyond that. There is no scientific way to measure attractions, desires, enjoyment, passions, preferences. There’s no way to tell whether someone’s behaviors are driven by things like sociology, money, insecurities, resentments. It’s difficult to measure fluidity. While people’s general psychology, and who they want to love, and the romantic, affection, emotional investment, relationship contentment aspects are impossible to measure on any scientific level. This isn’t about what is or isn’t a “choice”. It’s about accepting that there’s a ton of variety among human beings and a ton of different reasons why people do what they do.
Most Black people requests that you (and others like you) stop pulling race into conversations about sexuality and orientation. The fact that you and so many “Liberals” refuse to stop doing so is demeaning and frankly racist. Just stop doing it, and there won’t be any problems. Stop looking for the excuses and just stop doing it. (Waiting for you to still come up with excuses for bringing race into this and continue to prove how dismissive you are towards everything that doesn’t align with your sensibilities and experience).
Cam
@Donston
This isn’t a “People like me” comment.
This is me simply asking, if you are going to state something as fact, please cite your source. If you don’t have a source, then it is simply your opinion. Having an opinion is fine, but when you are making statements about all LGBTQs based only on your opinion, that is how it should be phrased.
Either you have a source or you don’t. Not sure what the problem is about answering that.
Donston
And as usual you completely ignored all my valid and inarguable points to keep pushing your basic stance. It’s funny how you only believe in studies when it’s about supporting your points. Even Kinsey believed in fluidity, something you and many others like to ignore when y’all bring him and his “studies” up. You’re the one claiming orientation has been scientifically proven. It’s your job to present your sources that prove it. It’s your job to show that science has proven attraction, desire, enjoyment, affections, preferences, romantic passions, love, emotional investment, relationship contentment. Or maybe, just maybe, those things can’t be scientifically proven. Every study is queer theory, hence why they call it “queer theory”.
I do believe there are things people are born with and there are things people cannot change. That doesn’t equate to dismissing all the other aspects and nuances to gender, sexuality, the orientation spectrum, motivations, personality, general psychology and everyone’s individual journey. I’ve had my own experiences with shit like fluidity, contradictions and the orientation spectrum. And so have many people I know. The fact that you’re obsessed with dismissing that doesn’t fit into your basic viewpoint feels like a personal attack. Stop looking for excuses to shame people or dismiss people’s experiences. It makes you a bad person. And back to my initial point, stop bringing race into these conversations. There’s a lot of shit you just need to stop.
(I do know that ultimately typing this was a waste of time, because you’re still gonna shame people, try to force people “out”, try to dismiss people’s identities, try to dismiss people’s nuances, bring up race in these conversations. People like you is why folks feel a certain way about “white gays”. And there’s a decent chance you’ll never learn and will keep on being dismissive and problematic in order to justify how you see people and their behaviors).
Openminded
I tend to follow the idea that the best actor for the part should get the part. Gay, straight, trans whatever. Just give me a good show and I’m happy.
On a side note, there are a lot of claims of how no gays get hired for entertainment. Am I not correct in stating that Broadway has notoriously been a gig for gays to work. I know this isn’t the same as movies and television, but I think it’s not necessarily accurate to claim little to no gays get acting jobs. Obviously, in an ideal world, there would be, at a minimum, a representation of gays in all the different forms of art as well as other jobs.
SaintRock
It’s called “ACTING” for a reason….. and then we get the complaints about Typecasting. Never a win for the whiners.