Straight paid for gay
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“One of the things that often gets overlooked in this conversation is just because a gay actor is playing a gay role doesn’t mean that that gay role or the gay actor is going to be good.
And while there are exceptions, the answer is still “not really”. Not affection, not intimacy — just access. While straight performers are celebrated for taking a “risk” by stepping into queer roles, queer performers are still often considered too risky to lead at all.
This isn’t simply about identity politics—it’s about who gets to shape culture.
Until Colman Domingo’s 2023 nomination for “Rustin” and Jodie Foster’s 2023 nomination for “Nyad,” Ian McKellan, a 1998 Oscar nominee, was the only openly queer actor to be nominated for playing a queer character. I wanted to be wanted.
And he smelled like shit.
It’s fine. All openly gay actors. In recent months, a flurry of new productions have been announced in which straight actors – or least, actors who are not publicly gay – will play gay characters.
Similarly to “Philadelphia,” the film’s taboo premise and the provocative script made space for two show-stopping performances from the leads, resulting in Oscar nominations for both Gyllenhaal and Ledger.
Chalamet, Hanks, Gyllenhaal, Ledger.
Jodie Foster, also openly queer, was nominated that same year for her supporting role in “Nyad”. Sterling K. Brown was nominated for “American Fiction”. You’re 18.
By Patrick Curran
Patrick Curran is a distinguished entertainment editor at popviewers.com, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the digital ...
Because it’s withheld. You pretend it’s just a one-off. “Maybe I’d prefer to be represented by a gorgeous, sexy, well-adjusted straight guy than a clapped gay man… I just don’t know.”
“To reduce queerness to something that is very definable and recognisable based on the past sexual experiences doesn’t necessarily serve the work in question” – Kyle Turner
According to Kyle Turner, a film critic and the author of The Queer Film Guide – 100 Great Movies That Tell LGBTQIA+ Stories, there is a rich history of independent queer auteurs working with straight actors: Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas in Pain and Glory (and many other films); Cate Blanchett and Julianne Moore in the work of Todd Haynes; Joseph Gordon Levitt in Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin; Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho.
Until queer actors are given the same chance to lead, to fail, to shine, and to grow, we can’t pretend the playing field is level—no matter how compelling the performance may be. Because for the first time, you’re let in. In fact, now that it tends to be associated with auteur-led, independent cinema rather than middle-brow Oscar bait, it’s more clouty than ever before.
He’s got a ring light. But worth interrogating.
Would this film have been greenlit if Colman Domingo, Andrew Scott, or Matt Bomer were in the lead instead alongside Rannells? He’s got OnlyFans. “I go up for specifically queer stuff far more often than I go up for general parts, which is clearly a product of diversity and inclusion,” Lewis, an actor and gay man, tells Dazed.