Actors who played gay roles

Philip Wuntch — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:49:47 +0000

At this point, Sean Penn ranks high among probable Best Actor Oscar nominees. The dynamic Penn stars as assassinated gay politico Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant’s Milk, which opened nationwide Nov. 26. There was a time, though, when such a role would have been considered risky. Among those who proved otherwise: Hugh Jackman. What’s this, People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive once played gay? Yes, and he was heaped with praise for it. Although Jackman’s buff performance in Australia, not to mention X-Man Wolverine, helped make him People’s cover boy, he won a Tony as gay entertainer Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz. That musical hasn’t made it to the screen yet, but if it does, you can be sure Jackman will be cast. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Probably the movie world’s most famous onscreen gay couple, they moved critics and moviegoers in Brokeback Mountain(Watch) . But when Brokeback surprisingly lost the 2005 Best Picture Oscar to Crash, Academy homophobia was blamed. Maybe Oscar voters will anoint this year’s Penn as means of erasing that label. Russell Crowe. Six years before Gladiator, Crowe played a good-natured gay in 1994’s The Sum of Us. He and his widowed father bond while searching for appropriate Significant Others. However, Crowe was reportedly offended when he and his rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts played San Francisco and gays threw their underwear onstage. Meryl Streep. In 2002’s The Hours, Madame Meryl played a plain-spoken lesbian who vainly tries to keep AIDS-ridden friend Ed Harris from suicide. And near the beginning of her movie career, when handlers discourage such role choices, she played Woody Allen’s ex-wife in Manhattan. When she writes a book explaining how her same-sex relationship had been much more nurturing than her marriage, Woody’s character was not amused. Didn’t hurt Meryl’s career at all.

From Hollywood to Broadway

Philip Wuntch — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:50:21 +0000

Few things validate a Hollywood star like a Broadway success. When movie stars tire of Hollywood type-casting or feel that their onscreen glow has softened, they turn bi-coastal and head east to Broadway. Celebs ranging from the late Katharine Hepburn to the very young Daniel Radcliffe have used this format to their advantage. Most Broadway sojourns produce the desired results. But not all.

Katie Holmes earned solid notices in the current revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, with Tom Cruise inevitably leading the opening-night applause. It was an example of smart planning on all corners. The 1947 play’s plot, in which a tycoon’s ill-gotten fortune comes from selling the Army faulty wartime artillery, is still topical. Katie’s role, while prominent, does not carry the action. Still, she held her own with footlights heavyweights John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest.

Daniel Radcliffe understandably seeks a change from the Harry Potter franchise. And his turn as Equus’s tormented stableboy undergoing extensive therapy is just what the doctor ordered. He won raves first on London’s West End and now on the Great White Way. The publicity generated by his nude scene didn’t hurt.

Debra Winger has announced plans to star in a Broadway version of the Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn/Sidney Poitier flick Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Barack Obama’s political ascent makes the storyline freshly topical, and Winger’s waning star power has risen with her performance as Anne Hathaway’s mother in Rachel Getting Married. Rumors that her An Officer and a Gentleman star Richard Gere would play the Tracy role have been denied by the Gere camp. Perhaps someone remembered that they were not on speaking terms when Officer and Gentleman finished filming.

Morgan Freeman and Frances McDormand barely made a dent with last summer’s revival of Clifford Odets’ The Country Girl. The play remains best known for the movie version starring Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly as the unhappily married couple. Obviously, the producers wanted to steer as far away as possible from the Crosby/Kelly prototypes, but no dialogue was added regarding the revival’s fresh inter-racial element. But both Morgan and McDormand continue to be swamped with character roles in movies.

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Actors who played gay roles

From Hollywood to Broadway