Everlasting killjoy Rupert Everett isn’t content with commiserating (with himself) over his failed film career. He wants to bring Jennifer Aniston down with him.
No stranger to blaming his coming out for his failed career, Everett does concede to BBC Radio 4’s Evan Davis that he’s “got nothing, in one sense, to complain about,” because dude is rich — or at least lives a life that’s “slightly about the middle” class. (Though he still finds things to complain about.) That doesn’t mean, however, that Everett wouldn’t like be welcomed back into Hollywood’s good graces.
Except, he says, the “heterosexual pecking order” means the film industry protect the breeders, no matter how inept they are at opening movies. Actors like Jennifer Aniston (whom Everett mentions by name) and Jake Gyllenhaal (whom he doesn’t, but no matter how much this blogger believes Jake to be talented and pretty, he frustrates studio execs to no end) mean Everett is forced to do “drag” roles. He’s been put into second-, or even third- or fourth-class status because of his sexuality, and there’s no coming back from it. In the meantime, straight actors like Colin Firth are getting the roles Everett should be.
Does it matter if actors who play straight, then, are gay? “No, because audience have a completely different perception of performers than the business. But the business is what makes the stars, really.” Does that mean he disagrees with the Richard Chamberlains of the word, who recommend gay actors stay in the closet? Nope. “I think it’s very sensible” to keep quiet about being gay, he says.
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So does he have any regrets about being open about his sexuality, something that folks like Kevin Spacey refuse to do? Well he still maintains that doing so killed his career, but as for wishing he didn’t do it? Nah. And he couldn’t have stayed in the closet anyhow, he says, because he was a “sex maniac … who wanted to go to raves and circuit parties.”
Oh just say it, Rupert: Colin Firth (despite what you think of his Mamma Mia performance) has the career you always wanted.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
No matter how much vitriol is thrown at this man, I still appreciate his opinion about Hollywood. He is one of the few actors–gay, or straight–pulling back the curtain on Hollywood’s homophobia. If he was a good closet queer, he could have been the next James Bond. But he dared come out, and had to punished.
If the anti-gay attitude Hollywood has towards it’s employees, were typical of any other industry, that business would be accused of bigotry, and discrimination. But in Hiollywood, it gets you an Oscar.
In Hollywood you can be a drunk, a junkie, a wife beater, a racist, an anti-Semite, and a child rapist. But don’t you dare be openly gay. That’s just too much for the pearl clutchers in Dreamland
Pip
uh he’s totally fucking right. Jennifer Aniston’s only good role outside of Friends was The Good Girl, and that was like almost 10 years ago. She keeps getting movies because she’s ‘the girl next door,’ not because she’s a good actress or anything.
David Ehrenstein
Rupert can always count on the Gay Cybery Pity-Party to weigh in.
Talk about Pearl-clutchers!
He fucked up his career the same way he fucked up his face — all by himself.
SteveC
Jennifer Aniston may not be a good actress but her films make money which is what Hollywood cares about.
Rupert Everett followed ‘My Best Friends Wedding’ with the moderately successful ‘Inspector Gadget’ and the criticallt succesful ‘An Ideal Husband’.
His career stalled when he picked a role in critically panned flop ‘The Next Best Thing’. But he remains a working actor appearing on TV and film.
I really don’t understand why he whines so much.
Mike n Bill
There are several reasons that Rupert Everett’s career is over
1) he screwed up his face with bad plastic surgery
2) he badmouths people constantly, including former friends. Whether justified or not putting that kind of negativity out there is not going to win you any support.
3) he is gay
4) he is getting older
5) he was never really all that good an actor to begin with
Bobert
Wah wah wah
justiceontherocks
Did Rupert lose a role to Jennifer? I don’t quite understand his point.
anonymous
Jennifer Aniston makes movies that makes money? Good lord is flinging your hair, opening your mouth like a goupy fish,and pushing your boobs out acting? Maybe Aniston is really a nice person in person but I have seen her movies and these are the three things I see her do throughout, Well I guess this is 2010 going to 2011 anything is possible, beats me!
Daez
Aniston is old time establishment. John Aniston, her father, has been acting longer than Aniston has been alive. She knows how to tow the Hollywood line, so she gets parts easier. Plus, people like her. The same can not be said of Evertt.
Brian
The fact is, Rupert Everett is a fine actor. I love his work and I do not think she should be derided for calling out Hollywood’s homophobia. Johnny Depp recently exclaimed that Disney hates that he has made his brilliant characters gay and Richard Chamberlain recently said that gay’s should remain int he closet in Hollywood. Rupert Everett is not delusional. We all loved him in My Best Friend’s wedding and after that he kinda disappeared.
Personally, I love Jennifer Aniston. Her movies are not blockbusters but she brings in lots of cash because of the press she generates. I digress.
The fact is, openly gay men in Hollywood are not allowed to be leading men! I think Rupert Everett would have made a fantastic James Bond but he never stood a chance! I hope he continues to call Hollywood out on their hypocrisy!
ewe
That accent doesn’t help him much for parts. Is he even able to play an american in an american made film?
ewe
I think Rupert Everett is under the impression he has a leading mans looks. I don’t think so at all. I find him to be somewhat plain.
afrolito
Umm…Jennifer Anniston is not old Hollywood royalty. Her father Jogn Anniston is famous if you watch daytime soaps, outside of that he couldn’t get arrested. Jennifer Anniston is famous because she got lucky, and was cast on a overrated show, that became hugely successful….she also married Brad Pitt, who later dumped her to be with Angelina Jolie. She would have no film career without the success of friends, and her marriage to Brad Pitt.
Rupert is a whiney bitch, but he’s absolutely right about her, and Hollywood. However, a lot of his current career woes are due to his own bad choices, and career missteps. He actually really is a good actor, when given the right role, and he certainly had the looks and charm to be a leading man, but Hollywood will never embrace an openly gay leading man, in a romantic lead. All talk to the contrary is just wishful thinking.
kayla
I’m sorry, but Rupert was never that good-looking, at least not in the Hollywood sense. He has a very large forehead and chin and all his features are sort of scrunched in the center of his face….just saying! It doesn’t matter what he thinks of Jennifer Aniston (who I’m no big fan of), but her movies usually make money, though the last one was a flop earlier this year. And that is all that matters. How do you get middle America to give up their $10.00 to go see a bitter Brit (who derides them at every turn) with semi-good looks?? When Rupert figures that out he’ll be big in Hollywood! I actually loved him in My Best Friend’s Wedding, then he made that awful movie with Madonna, that was when he was her new best friend and that pretty much killed his career more than anything else! He NEVER had leading man potential, and that’s the cold hard truth!
rrr
@Brian:
We all loved him in My Best Friend’s wedding and after that he kinda disappeared.
He didn’t disappear after MBFW. He had lots of public goodwill, had charmed the critics, and had opportunity in Hollywood. He played heterosexual romantic lead in An Ideal Husband and “gay but producing and parenting a baby with Madonna” lead in the flop Next Best Thing as well as being in crap movies like Inspector Gadget and Dunston Checks In. He made a lot of bad career choices when he had that window of opportunity. That sort of window isn’t open long without the sort of well established American fame and interest that can come with a very popular sitcom like Friends and without the personal likability that keeps colleagues in the industry wanting to work with you and give you extra chances. He says too much of the wrong things in interviews, he did it then and he does it now. And, even by his own versions of events in his book, he’s a source of drama on sets and he bitches and criticizes all the time.
He was in the best position I’ve seen yet to become an openly gay leading man. The critics were all saying he should have been lead in MBFW regardless of his sexuality. He had an enthusiastic fanbase of female romantic comedy viewers who knew he’s openly gay. He won the People’s Choice award. Unfortunately for everyone he wasn’t the type of human being suited to flourish in a collaborative art form or retain that kind of fanbase with charm.
WTF
I just think he’s a loudmouth who needs to stop insulting others and maybe he’ll have a better career. As to using “I’m gay” as an excuse for not getting parts, Neil Patrick Harris is also gay but it hasn’t stopped him for getting parts. As a matter of fact, he has gotten more parts since coming out. So Rupert needs to put the blame where it belongs, on his bigmouth.
I5.
His career hasn’t gone so well because he’s a dick, not because he’s gay. Neil Patrick Harris is universally loved and accepted in Hollywood and Broadway and coming out has possibly only benefitted his career.
TJR
Everett is a tool thats why his career sank. On # 17, please folks, NPH is great but his coming out has not helped his career, but he is not the leading man type anyway so it matters none. He’s an ensemble actor who will do Glee guest spots, award shows and Smurf movies…good he is the theater type. Leading man types cannot come out or they will not get roles, those are the rules.
rrr
@TJR: Rupert has gotten roles as a leading man while out, but he wrecked his career and his face. They weren’t in major action movies but he wouldn’t have gotten that if he were straight either.
Rupert is claiming out actors are stuck with drag nowadays simply as a result of being out. NPH and out british actors like Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi are not stuck doing drag, they get plenty of interesting work and they aren’t in dresses. Of course, NPH, McKellen and Jacobi aren’t miseries to their directors, back biting their colleagues constantly and announcing things in interviews that put off their fanbase like Rupert declaring he’s a slutty former male prostitute.
afrolito
Once again for the slow people: NPH is not a movie star or leading man, and never will be. He is not in the same league as Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, or even Rupert Everett at his height. He’s a tv actor on a shit show on CBS. When it ends, he’ll be doing gay parts on tv shows, and Broadway musicals.
Btw, NPH was also in The Next Best thing, playing one of Madonna’s gay friends. Lol!
michael
I have a theory…. Rupert has been very vocal in his disdain for Madonna and about “The Next Best Thing”… I think that once he threw Madonna under the bus people stopped working with him for fear he would do the same and I also wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t want to make an enemy of Madonna. I wouldn’t be surprised if she killed his career with a few phone calls. Personally I love The Next Best Thing. I have gay parents and until that movie I had never seen any variation of my family on film. I also think Ruperts character was the worst part of the movie. It was overtly camp and cliche’. I’ve always wondered why the gay community never really supported that film but not another gay movie is a “classic”. Also to add to someone elses point earlier, let’s not forget Neil Patrick Harris was also in the next best thing. PS I think America has a soft spot for Jennifer Aniston. Personally I do as well. Most of us root for her, Rupert isn’t anyone that I at least want to root for. I even hated him on Boston Legal (which is my all time favorite show)
jackieohboy
@afrolito: How I Met Your Mother is actually a really funny sitcom and critics adore it. Also NPH is by far the fan favorite of the characters on it. And he hosted the Emmy’s for crying out loud, that is the most prestigious award for a television actor…there are very few people who have both won Emmy’s and hosted the awards. He may never be a huge film star, but in the television world he is most definitely A list.
afrolito
I think How I Met Your Mother is typical crap, that average Americans love to watch, which doesn’t say much for their taste level. As far as critics go, I highly doubt it’s critically acclaimed.
As far as him hosting the Emmy’s…big deal. Let me know when he hosts the Oscars.
Charlie Sheen earns over a million per episode. That’s A list.
Daez
@michael: All hail the great and powerful Madonna, she can’t act, she is long past the point where she could even remotely belt out a tune (she was never really good at that to begin with), but her repeated rape and pillage of the gay community in order to get where she wanted and her ability to reinvent herself constantly made her a star in the world of MTV where all you really had to do is look like a slut to succeed.
Video killed the radio star. The radio star could actually sing. No pop diva at this point can make the claim that they are even remotely capable of belting out a tune like those of yesteryear. Its all about smoke and mirrors.
robert in NYC
At least Everett isn’t a hypocrite and had the guts that many don’t have, to come out and more importantly risk his career. He knew what he was doing but went ahead anyway. He finally exposed the culture of homophobia in Hollywood which took more than guts and courage. Too bad if some of you think he’s whining and he brought it on himself. Ask yourselves, what have you done lately to tackle homophobia? Would you stick your necks out to risk your careers? I would think the answer to that would be a resounding NO. I bet you if his film career took off in Europe and he became the hottest box office star making millions of dollars for the studios, the hypocrites and homophobes in Hollywood would be clamoring to sign him up.
gregger
He’s a bitter nasty queen that has repeatedly bitten the hand that feeds him. The bad face work, the nasty on set attitude, the overall demeanor is horrible.
If he were a pleasant person he might still be working more, even with the bad face work.
Kennedy
How I Met Your Mother has met some critical success due to being the best of the pigs in an era of pathetic sitcoms that could never compare to the classics of the past, even the 80s/90s past which is saying something. I like NPH, he is the standout in this bad ensemble cast. He will always be a good ensemble guy that can sing a show tune. The show has always been a ‘Friends’ wannabe and not a good one. It’s a good show for straight suburban foks to watch and think they are seeing something bordering on hip (not!).
David Ehrenstein
@afrolito: NPH was the very best thing in “The Next Best Thing” — and the only reason to take a look at it.
Fascinating to read these comparasions between him and Rupert. Neither has “leading man” written all over them for reasons that have nothing to do with their being gay. NPH started out as a child actor. That he made it to adulthood without becoming a drug addict and/or killing himself is a Major Achievement in Hollywood. That he got himself a career as an adult afterwards is an Even Bigger Deal. With those two hurdles leaped coming out was a relative walk-in-the-park. It’s pretty clear from everything he’s done he’s been aware of the fact that those “Leading Man Roles” that so many clueless posters in here imagine to be the be-all-and-end-all of success were not to be his — and so what. NPH has carved out an extrmely successful career for himself on TV and Broadway — which of course won’t stop the Usual Suspects from sneering at him, as if he were a Macdonald’s counterperson.
I’ve already weighed in on Rupert and his 10-car-pile-up-on-the-I-Fve of a career. So I’d like to speak instead of a heterosexual — Alec Balmwin.
Back at the start of his career Alec had a quick rise from sexy supporting player (“Working Girl, “Married to the Mob”) to BIG ROMANTIC LEAD in “The Hunt For Red October.” It did quite well. Everyone in the indistry thought “Here’s Our New Romantic Leading Man.” So they sank a ton of money into “The Shadow” and it died the death. Nothing wrong with Alec. It’s simply that “Big Romantic Leading Man” vehicles are neither simple to make nor all that beloved by the public. So he did theater, and finally came back big time on the tube. He’s older, he’s heavier, and off-screen he’s just as problematic as ever (messy divorce, rude phone call to the daughter) but scarcely Charlie Sheen. The bottom line is he’s a whiz at sophisticated comedy, and despie the fact that “Romantic Leading Man Roles” are no longer his for the asking he’s an enormous success.
See how it works? There’s more than one way to skin a cat, people. And this constant harping on the “Out Gay Actors Can’t Succeed Because They’ll Never Be Cast As Romantic Leading Men” meme is simply (drumroll please)
INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIC BULLSHIT!!!!
afrolito
NPH was the very best thing in “The Next Best Thing”….Lmfao! That film was drivel from start to finish, and absolutely no one on the planet went to see it because of him. He should be grateful for his 5 minute role, which most people missed on their bathroom or popcorn break.
For a man who is probably pushing 70, and old enough to be my grandfather, you seem really immature with the childish name calling. Just because people disagree with you, doesn’t mean they are suffering from internalized homophobia and self loathing. Pointing out the obvious homophobia of Hollywood, and the general audience is just living in the real world.
As far as Rupert goes, he has played leading man roles in his younger days. His career may have ended in Hollywood with The Next Best Thing, but it didn’t start there either. Regardless of where he is now, he had the kind of movie career in Hollywood and Britain, that NPH will never have.
What does Alec Baldwin have to do with any of this? He was and still is an A list Hollywood star, getting plum roles in major films…regardless of his personal problems with his ex and daughter. He’s also way too old and past the leading man age anyway.
David Ehrenstein
@afrolito: And you seem really “sensitive” dear.
Alec Baldwin has everything to do with it. He started out as a “Romantic Leading Man” — which tons of people in here keep claimign is the be-all-and-end-all, and FAILED. Now he’s a success — as an older, heavier, farceur on TV.
Got that? TV!
Apparently the fact that NPH is a TV star marks him as second-rate to so many of you people.
“Just because people disagree with you, doesn’t mean they are suffering from internalized homophobia and self loathing.”
9 times out of 10 they ARE, Blanche — they ARE
afrolito
Regardless of whether Alec is doing TV, he’s still an A LIST, OSCAR NOMINATED HOLLYWOOD STAR, ON A CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SHOW. NPH is none of those things, and never will be. Comparing him to actors out of his league is not gonna make his star any brighter.
Bobby
I like him, but I’m sick of his whining and honestly, don’t find him attractive at all, so while homophobia is still rampant in Hollywood, if Rupert was a big draw he’d be making movies.
He should settle for the character actor roles, they’re more fun anyway and they usually have longer careers than leading men and women actors do.
David Ehrenstein
@afrolito: So what should he do dear? Take the gas pipe?
ewe
Jay Leno is not even funny and really never was with his cynical one liners and he is treated tremendously well. So… it’s true of course what Rupert Everett says overall.
David Ehrenstein
“of course”? “overall”? Uh, no. Rupert’s just bitching about the mess he’s made of his career and blaming it on everybody else.
ewe
@David Ehrenstein: I somewhat agree with you. Actors in particular need to say nothing at all. I love that Kate Moss model cause she keeps her damn mouth shut and simply poses. That’s her job. Same with actors. They should stick to their script and pipe down on the personal stuff if they don’t want to be critiqued. Being openly gay is the best thing for gay people to be. The alternative is heartache.
Jaroslaw
David – It is great that Alec transitioned from leading man to other things, but I don’t see where anyone said being a romantic leading man is the be-all, end-all role. Richard Chamberlain said “if you WANT to be a leading man, keep mum about the Gay stuff.” Correct?
I don’t think acknowledging the majority’s sexual attraction mechanism is internalized homophobia either. I want and desire what I CAN have, not what I CANNOT have. How is acknowledging my desires anti-anything?
Well we can still be friends even if we disagree on this ONE thing!
Henry Holland
9 times out of 10 they ARE, Blanche — they ARE
Oh gawd, what an insufferable prick you can be. You and your hideously dated references that no one gives a damn about any more –no one cares who the fuck Louise is, get a clue– the presumption that your opinions come From On High, the worldview stuck in 70’s Manhattan, the incessant blogwhoring, it’s either laugh or cry time.
Your Alec Baldwin comparison sucks. The more relevant ones are to compare the loathsome Everett with his co-stars in the great Another Country, Colin Firth and Cary Elwes.
Firth has made consistently intelligent choices, moving from character roles > OMG! He’s Mr. Darcy! > A Single Man/The King’s Speech, he can act circles around one-note Everett and is by most accounts a nice man to work with. Elwes has gone from romantic leads in stuff like Lady Jane and The Princess Bride to being a versatile film and TV actor, all without disfiguring his looks or whining about the vicissitudes of the movie business.
Kate Anastasakis
Someone should teach this guy what the word respect means.I don’t think he’ll ever get a role with that mouth.He should appologise to Jennifer in public.It’s one thing to express a complaint about not having a job and another to start dissing another actor.That was pathetic and mean!!
Chris
Poor Rupert. Poor dried up, badly surgery faced Rupert. Jennifer Aniston is shit – worthless piece of absolute dog remains on the planet. But the difference between her and you Rup is that she is young and playing her age, where you are trying to appear young. And if you are unsuccessful is your own fault. Why do u care about Hollywood anyway? Are you that desperate? Collect cans as Judge Judy would say.
blue moose
I have to laugh,what is up with queerty? why do you have it in for Rupert. I heard the audio, his comments were intelligent and thoughtful. Neil patrick harris seems like a nice guy:however his acting is nothing to shout home about. To put him in the same catagory as Rupert is absurd. Rup is certainly as good as Colin firth and hugh(grant), they are offered the parts very unfair.
paulD
@blue moose: One is offered a part “unfairly”.
David Ehrenstein
@Jaroslaw: It’s not “acknowledging the majority’s sexual attraction mechanism ” — it’s CATERING to it.
blue moose
“He’s a bitter nasty queen that has repeatedly bitten the hand that feeds him. The bad face work, the nasty on set attitude, the overall demeanor is horrible.”
To read this kind of tripe tells me more about you being a bitter old queeen than him…..Get over youself. When I see you up on the screen and trying to feed yourself with a talent ( I fear you lack) then you can tell us about Rupert being a bitter old queen. Some of you little princesses need to grow up and look at the world you are about to enter. Good luck when you only see ads asking for under 30’s only….
David Ehrenstein
@Henry Holland: ”
You and your hideously dated references that no one gives a damn about any more”
Obviously YOU do Miss Thing.
jackieohboy
@afrolito: Don’t argue just to argue. How I Met Your Mother is a highly regarded sitcom.
Here are a few critics lists of best tv shows of the decade
http://tvcomedies.about.com/od/listsrecommendations/tp/bestof00s.htm
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b214871_what_are_top_10_tv_comedies_of_2010.html
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-best-tv-series-of-the-00s,35256/
Jaroslaw
OK David, it may be catering to it, but it is still not internalized homophobia to acknowledge what is. If somehow an openly Gay male becomes heartthrob to straight females everywhere, sometime in the future, (longterm, not just for a minute) then I’ll be happy to acknowledge I was wrong and/or some predicted the future better than me. Again, still not internalized homophobia.
David Ehrenstein
@Jaroslaw: Non-openly gay male movie stars have been heartthrobs to straight females (perfectly aware of the truth) for EONS. I suppose you’re one of those people who think that the great unwashed “never knew” about Rock Hudson.
Think Again!
It was even incorporated into his movies. Those Doris Day comedies where he pretended to be gay were premised entirely on the public’s knowledge of what was really going on.
Jaroslaw
David – I already said as clearly as possible that I don’t agree that the masses knew Rock was Gay. I also admitted that I wasn’t around in the 50’s so my opinion may not be based on all the info you have. I did ask some much older women at work and they said no, people did not know in the 50’s but yes, in the 70’s. I do recall discussing this with my cousin Carol about 10 years ago who sold beauty products as a travelling saleswoman in Michigan (who also went to beauty product conventions in CALIFORNIA) said there were rumors, but I didn’t pin her down on WHEN she was aware these rumors were circulating. But her job is hardly typical and look at how many exponentially more people she would be in contact with as opposed to the average public. Again, though, if everyone knew, why did the studio bother to marry him off, and fill all the fan magazines and gossip columns with how wonderful straight married life was for him? At the same time, I’m not completely naive. Since he supposedly had all these wild orgies with dozens of young men at his pool, very early on in his career, I would agree it would be hard to keep that a secret.
But back to the main point- RUMORS are far different than an openly Gay leading man kissing his boyfriend/husband and holding hands in a fan magazine and still according to you and others, being a hearthrob to a straight female audience. I already admitted time will tell, and I’ll eat my words when it happens!!!
robert in NYC
No. 48, Jarosalw, from what I’ve read of Rock Hudson, his agent knew he was gay and advised him to get married to quell any “gay” rumors and thereby avoiding not getting any work in Hollywood. It apparently wasn’t widely known by the studios as some claim it was. I grew up in the 50s, I don’t recall hearing any rumors about Hudson and neither did my parents at the time who had gay friends long before it was considered “in”. Tab Hunter and Sal Mineo weren’t openly gay at the time and neither was Cesar Romero. In fact Romero remained closeted until his death not so long ago.
Jaroslaw
Thanks Robert, that makes sense to me. Again, I admit I wasn’t around in the 50’s and I’m just saying I think rumors are a horse of different color from saying most people knew without a doubt.
Queer Supremacist
Never crazy about Rupie, but I can’t stand Jennifer Anuston or that wretched sitcom she was on (the real Must-See TV on NBC Thursday night was in the mid-to-late 80s).
@Kennedy: NPH is the only funny one on How I Met Your Mother, an otherwise mediocre sitcom which, in an age of reality TV shows, court shows, and endless Maury-reveals-my-baby-daddy talk shows, a scripted show has to be as bad as public access TV sketch comedy to get a bad review. 30 years ago it would have as well-loved as Hello, Larry. My sitcom heart still belongs to Lucy, Mary, the Golden Girls, and good-era Simpsons.
Stenar
@TJR: BULLSHIT!
LGB
I don’t get what his issue is, how can he say that coming out affected his career when he’s been working consistently since 1982. Just look at his resume, there’s at least one role a year and he’s still going. The reason other people are getting roles that he’s not is because they’re better suited for them than he is. Not because of their sexuality, but because of a mix of their look and their talent. Maybe Rupert should focus on improving his talent and getting more roles and less time blaming homophobia for his own (Percieved-non-existent) failings.