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Interesting article about celebrity gay gossip. Discusses Jake Gyllenhaal.
Ellemeno:
--- Quote from: silkncense on August 03, 2006, 09:59:24 pm ---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.
--- End quote ---
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.
nakymaton:
Re: Rupert Everett:
--- Quote from: Ellemeno on August 04, 2006, 03:45:34 pm ---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.
--- End quote ---
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.
opinionista:
--- Quote from: Ellemeno on August 04, 2006, 03:45:34 pm ---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.
--- End quote ---
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.
Jeff Wrangler:
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. ::)
ednbarby:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on August 04, 2006, 04:16:34 pm ---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.
--- End quote ---
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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