Author Topic: Interesting article about celebrity gay gossip. Discusses Jake Gyllenhaal.  (Read 24904 times)

Offline Ellemeno

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I hate to come out with an opposing opinion, but here goes - I recall an English actor, cast as the romantic leading man in several films within the last 5 years (?) who came out as gay.  (Of course his name totally escapes me at the moment).  I also recall reading that he later said it was the worst career move  he could've made.  I also have to say I have not seen him in many films recently, certainly not to the degree he was at that time.  So, I think it does matter to Hollywood execs in some instances.

Anyone recall who I am trying to remember? 

EDIT: The actor I was trying to recall is Rupert Everett.

You know - I won't argue whether coming out hurt him, but I never thought he was that great an actor, or appealing, that could have had something to do with it too.


Offline nakymaton

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Re: Rupert Everett:

You know - I won't argue whether coming out hurt him, but I never thought he was that great an actor, or appealing, that could have had something to do with it too.

I was trying to remember if I had seen him in anything, so I checked his IMDb profile: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000391/. I guess I've seen him in Shakespeare in Love and in The Madness of King George, but I don't remember his characters particularly from either movie. He's working (he's cast in three movies coming out in 2006 or 2007), and get this... he had a voice role in Narnia.  ;D I know a voice role isn't the same as a leading role, but... Narnia. ;D (He also had a voice role in Shrek 2. So he's been in movies that have made gobs and gobs of money, but he's had voice roles in them.)

I had heard about Everett's troubles, but I wonder if they came from audience reactions, or from studio/casting director/etc assumptions about how audiences would react? (I also wonder whether the whole "matinee idol" business drives movie success at all these days. Are there any stars, male or female, that can sell a romantic movie solely based on their own hotness? It seems to me that the "100 Most Beautiful People" lists seem to contain plenty of presumably straight actors that have flopped in romantic roles. Maybe the combination of DVDs and saturation entertainment coverage on cable and in magazines has made movies less important for fantasizing?)

I'm not saying that coming out isn't a risky career move. But I'm wondering if that's because of the way audiences react, or whether it's because of the assumptions that studios make.
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Offline opinionista

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You know - I won't argue whether coming out hurt him, but I never thought he was that great an actor, or appealing, that could have had something to do with it too.



I agree with you there Clarissa. Rupert Everett is not a good actor, and maybe that's the reason why he hasn't been in movies lately. However, Ian McKellen is very much out of the closet, and has five movies coming up in the next two years. I'm really not sure to what extent coming out of the closet actually harms a gay actor's career. I mean, Ellen DeGeneres still has a career, so does Ian McKellen and a few others. That could be pure BS coming from the studios and studio CEO's own homophobia.
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. -Mark Twain.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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More re: Rupert Everett.

He also did a film of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, with Cate Blanchett, Jeremy Northam, and Julianne Moore, that I thought was quite good. I thought he was rather good in it, too.

Ian McKellen is working, but, let's face it, he's too old to be a romantic lead, if he ever had the looks for it, which I doubt. Maybe casting an older, "out" gay man in a character role is a no-loss/no-foul situation.

I doubt there are many people who went home and had sexual fantasies about Gandalf--though I suppose there could always be a few.  ::)
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline ednbarby

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More re: Rupert Everett.

He also did a film of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, with Cate Blanchett, Jeremy Northam, and Julianne Moore, that I thought was quite good. I thought he was rather good in it, too.

I liked him in this one, too.  And in "My Best Friend's Wedding," although he didn't exactly play the leading man in that one.  But I thought he was way cuter and more interesting than Dermot Mulroney at the time.  Still do, actually.
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Offline serious crayons

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I liked Rupert Everett in "My Best Friend's Wedding." I also saw him years ago in a weird, creepy little movie called "The Comfort of Strangers," also starring Christopher Walken at his creepiest.

When Rupert Everett first came out, he had a great line. Someone asked him if he feared he'd always be relegated to playing gay men, and he said that would be fine "because, contrary to popular belief, we're not all alike."

After all, how many straight actors worry about always being typecast as straight?

Still, this may just be a reassuring way for Rupert Everett to explain to himself why his career is foundering rather than consider factors that might have more to do with him. And another bad sign: he's featured on awfulplasticsurgery.com http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/archives/005451.html
(BTW, have you all ever seen that site? It's horrifying, yet I can't look away ... Most appalling are the before and after pictures of very young, attractive actors such as Kate Bosworth or Jennifer Lopez.)

As for Ellen and Ian McKellen, one isn't an actor and the other rarely if ever plays romantic leads. I think we're past the point where any celebrity's career would necessarily plummet because the person came out. But a star who frequently plays romantic roles might be another story or, as Natali says, at least the studio bigwigs might fear that it would be another story.

I notice I don't see Jodie Foster playing many romantic leads these days. Her career is doing fine, but she usually plays moms or some other sex-free role. (Not that she's out, I realize, but ...) What if someone who does play romantic roles were to come out? Someone like, like ... oh, just to pick some random A-list actor off the top of my head ... like, say, Tom Cruise?
« Last Edit: August 04, 2006, 05:22:14 pm by latjoreme »

Offline opinionista

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I liked Rupert Everett in "My Best Friend's Wedding." I also saw him years ago in a weird, creepy little movie called "The Comfort of Strangers," also starring Christopher Walken at his creepiest.

When Rupert Everett first came out, he had a great line. Someone asked him if he feared he'd always be relegated to playing gay men, and he said that would be fine "because, contrary to popular belief, we're not all alike."

After all, how many straight actors worry about always being typecast as straight?

Still, this may just be a reassuring way for Rupert Everett to explain to himself why his career is foundering. And another bad sign: he's featured on awfulplasticsurger.com http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/archives/005451.html
(BTW, have you all ever seen that site? It's horrifying, yet I can't look away ... Most appalling are the before and after pictures of very young, attractive actors such as Kate Bosworth.)

As for Ellen and Ian McKellen, one isn't an actor and the other rarely if ever plays romantic leads. I think we're past the point where any celebrity's career would necessarily plummet if the person came out. But a star who frequently plays romantic roles might be another story, or as Natali says at least the studio bigwigs might fear that it would be another story.

I notice I rarely if ever see Jodie Foster playing romantic leads these days. Her career is doing fine, but she usually plays moms or some other sex-free role. What if someone who does play romantic roles were to come out? Someone like, like ... oh, just to pick some random A-list actor off the top of my head ... like, say, Tom Cruise?


OT: Thanks for that link Katherine. I'm horrified with Jocelyn Wildenstein. I knew about her when I lived in NY, but hadn't really seen how horrible she looks now. The woman must have some serious mental problem.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2006, 04:54:55 pm by opinionista »
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. -Mark Twain.

Offline nakymaton

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I notice I rarely if ever see Jodie Foster playing romantic leads these days. Her career is doing fine, but she usually plays moms or some other sex-free role.

Yeah, but female roles tend to be de-sexed at a younger age than male roles do, anyway. (Hollywood just doesn't get the female mind, I tell you, assuming that women are de-sexed at age 30 or whatever...) (And as for young actresses... well, don't they tend to be very hot for a season, and then disappear very fast, so it might be hard to tell what controls their success versus failure in any case?)

Tom Cruise might be losing his clout in any case, just from acting like a nutcase. (And his movies aren't guaranteed successes, are they? He's been in quite a few movies that didn't live up to their hype in the past few years, it seems to me.)

(You know, I'm just arguing to argue. I know coming out is a risky career move for public figures, and incredibly hard for everyone else, too. But I think the problem is homophobia rather than what straight women or straight men find attractive. And homophobia is certainly a problem... but I would like to call it by name, and not pretend like it's some kind of natural behavior.)

(I should watch An Ideal Husband. At one point I was on a quest to watch every movie Cate Blanchett has ever been in, but I got distracted.)
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Offline Mikaela

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Ian McKellen is working, but, let's face it, he's too old to be a romantic lead...

Well, there *is* his Richard III. "Was ever Woman in this humour wooed? Was ever Woman in this humour won?"  :o ;)    Brilliant role, but not exactly a *romantic* lead, I suppose.

There was a very extensive interview with Ian McKellen in the April issue of the movie magazine Empire. I lost the mag during a hospital stay, which is a pity because I can't find the article online and it had bearing on the topic at hand, and also mentioned Brokeback. From what I recall, Sir Ian was pretty clear on the subject that there are many closeted actors, and that they dare not come out because the danger to their careers is too great. But I can't remember exactly which danger (being typecast, being shunted out of romantic roles, being shunted out of *any* roles) he stressed in that interview.

What I do remember though is his comment on Brokeback. In that particular interview (I don't know what he may have said elsewhere, of course) he didn't laud JG and HL for their roles, nor did he comment on the film's effect in relation to gay issues, possible increased societal acceptance, film industry impact for "gay" roles or the like. What he did chose to comment on was the remarks one of the leads (he didn't say which one but from the context I seem to recall it was Jake) had made in relation to the never-ending kissing questions. He was disappointed and annoyed that Jake had said it was "frightening" to do the kissing scene(s) with Heath. Because, sir Ian commented, "imagine if I had said that the most horrible thing I ever had to do in my career was to kiss Helen Mirren!"

Clearly, that comment goes to what has already been discussed in several entries in this thread: Actors *act* and so should be able to act gay or straight roles, including romantic roles, - whether they are gay or straight in real life.


(I was a bit disappointed about his commment on BBM though - being used to interviewers himself he must know how difficult it is to respond to many of the sillier questions (and the neverending BBM kissing questions range right up there with those) - and anyway Jake might have been misquoted or the "frightened" quote taken completely out of context. What if he was frightened he'd not manage to make the passion so believable it blazes from the screen - what if he was anxious his acting wouldn't be sufficient? The fright might have nothing at all to do with kissing a *man* and everything to do with wanting to do the role and the character of Jack justice. But I digress.   ::)
« Last Edit: August 04, 2006, 05:21:15 pm by Mikaela »

moremojo

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I doubt there are many people who went home and had sexual fantasies about Gandalf--though I suppose there could always be a few.  ::)
Gandalf, no--now Mr. McKellan himself (sir, if you please ;))...now he I could work with!