Shocked!! Shocked, I tell you!!!

[AdminAssistant]

As fireheart said, both Lane and McKellan have done extremely well for themselves. (Both, btw, are first and foremost theatre actors, and the theatre tends to be much more forgiving about this kind of thing.)

HOWEVER, I have seen a lot of very young actors who have come out recently and feel the need to fully embrace that identity, to the point where they can't play straight. I just saw a show where this guy was supposed to be a jackass of a boyfriend while his mannerisms and voice made him seem like the "fabulous gay friend." And that doesn't work. Gay or straight, ya gotta keep your mannerisms under control to be a good actor.

[fireheart17]

*ahem*
Calling bull on that one. Name me one out actor who has gotten a leading role? We're talking movies, not TV, and major studio stuff not the independent film makers.
OK so there are some who had big roles before they came out but it is extremely rare to see an openly gay person receive a large role (unless the movie is gay themed, which most Hollywood productions aren't).

Nathan Lane has had major/leading roles in:

The Producers (as Max Bialystock)
MouseHunt (one of the half of the bumbling duo)

John Barrowman....ok, slightly cheating, but he has a major role as Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood (and is extremely HOT for a gay guy)

Sir Ian McKellan...

Richard III (titualar character)
X-Men (dunno if that'd be LEADING per se)

There are others, I'm just too tired to think of them.

[telecom_goddess]

Very true, but very few people blink twice at a notable heterosexual actor playing a gay role. They may be irate that the movie is even being made, but wouldn't think twice about a hetero playing a homo... after all, it's just pretend.

That seems like a double standard to me....a straight person can play gay but a gay person can't play straight?

Ok so I can't think of any leading actors/acrtresses right off the top of my head that could possibly be gay. You have a point there.

BUT...Ellen Degenerous (sp?) is doing very well for herself. When she first came out it looked like her career would tank but damn look at her now! She's not in movies no but that was never really her thing anyway. She's a huge success in what she does.

[smileyeagle1021]

A) The role is for a straight character, possibly even featuring heterosexual relationships on-screen. Casting an openly gay actor would be a disconnect for many viewers.

Very true, but very few people blink twice at a notable heterosexual actor playing a gay role. They may be irate that the movie is even being made, but wouldn't think twice about a hetero playing a homo... after all, it's just pretend.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Not many openly gay leading role-suitable actors come to mind, though I don't necessarily remember that many actors to begin with

Anyway, there's two very real reasons why an openly (as in publicly well known to be) gay actor won't get a role. Either:

A) The role is for a straight character, possibly even featuring heterosexual relationships on-screen. Casting an openly gay actor would be a disconnect for many viewers.

or B) The studio realizes that, for whatever reason, casting an openly gay actor in a lead role would lose them a lot of money. As cold as that seems, they have a very real duty to their shareholders to make as much money as possible.

It isn't right that either of those reasons exist, but neither is is right to ask everyone to throw themselves, their work, or their business under the bus, if even for a moment, all for one short-lived moment of not-anti-gay-ness. If they want to that's fine, but there's no reason they have to.

[smileyeagle1021]

Which is why Rock Hudson kept it under wraps....people are lucky that now they can come out and people are like "ya whatever" Not like the old day. But that's good progress!

*ahem*
Calling bull on that one. Name me one out actor who has gotten a leading role? We're talking movies, not TV, and major studio stuff not the independent film makers.
OK so there are some who had big roles before they came out but it is extremely rare to see an openly gay person receive a large role (unless the movie is gay themed, which most Hollywood productions aren't).

[Plaidman]

What about Dumbledore? That was a shock. And outraged. People mad. Others didn't care. its a freaking book.

[fireheart17]

As far as gay people go down in Ausland...

Tim Campbell surprised me as being gay. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Campbell_(actor)
Anthony Callea surprised me a little bit, but not very much...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Callea
Missy Higgins....I was somewhere in between...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missy_Higgins (the local paper made a mistake and stated that she was lesbian, not bi)

There are a couple more, but I can't think of them right now...

[telecom_goddess]

Oh I know. I mean it said he was married and had a kid. Apparently it was just made up.

Then again 50-60 some years ago, if you were an actor and came out as gay. That would have killed your career. Hollywood wasn't as acepting as they are today.

Which is why Rock Hudson kept it under wraps....people are lucky that now they can come out and people are like "ya whatever" Not like the old day. But that's good progress!

[RavenStarr]

WHAT? really? ok THAT'S a shock. He just doesn't seem like he would be !!

Oh I know. I mean it said he was married and had a kid. Apparently it was just made up.

Then again 50-60 some years ago, if you were an actor and came out as gay. That would have killed your career. Hollywood wasn't as acepting as they are today.

[telecom_goddess]

Oh I knew that. i heard that a long time ago, when I read a special on Perry Mason always being on at noon for past like, twenty years on one channel. He wasn't showy on it.

I had no idea.....wow.

I have to admit Rock Hudson surprised me too.

Anna Paquin coming out as bi was a little surprising but not really....somehow it fits. And I think it's way cool

[Plaidman]

Oh I knew that. i heard that a long time ago, when I read a special on Perry Mason always being on at noon for past like, twenty years on one channel. He wasn't showy on it.

[telecom_goddess]

I read Raymond Burr's (of Perry Mason and Ironside fame) bio on wikipedia and was shocked to find out he was actually gay.

WHAT? really? ok THAT'S a shock. He just doesn't seem like he would be !!

[RavenStarr]

I read Raymond Burr's (of Perry Mason and Ironside fame) bio on wikipedia and was shocked to find out he was actually gay.

[AdminAssistant]

Have you ever seen his Richard III? It's AMAZING. A friend of mine got to see him in King Lear....so jealous!