These days, from Ian Somerhalder in The Rules of Attraction (2002) to Liam Neeson in Kinsey (2004) and Colin Farrell in both Alexander (2004) and A Home at the End of the World (2004), straight actors are actually taking their careers once step further and playing gay or bisexual roles, expanding their images to gain a wider audience and keep their careers forever fresh.

Most recently, David Gallagher, 18, known for wholesome roles in Look Who’s Talking Now (1993), Phenomenon (1996), and most notably, for the last nine years, as adorable Simon Camden in the conservative Christian show, 7th Heaven, has taken on the bisexual role of the notorious Dorian Gray in the movie of the same name.

It’s understandable that the fresh-faced teenager, that up until now has been typecasted as well–the fresh faced teenager--would grasp at the opportunity to play a character that is far from innocent. Think boy-next-door actor Matt Damon, fresh off The Rainmaker (1997), Good Will Hunting (1997) and Saving Private Ryan (1998), playing the conniving Tom Ripley in 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Directed by openly gay British director Duncan Roy (AKA), the soon-to-be-released third adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel, which co-stars Nastassia Kinski, differs from the previous two major motion pictures--Albert Lewin’s Oscar-winning The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), starring Hurd Hatfield as the title character, alongside an all-star cast including Donna Reed, George Sanders and Peter Lawford, and Massimo Dallamano‘s 1970 rendering, starring Luchino Visconti-favorite Helmut Berger, set in contemporary London--in a number of ways that will take Gallagher far away from the Simon Camden character, according to a recent item in the New York Post’s gossip column Page Six.

While previous versions and the novel itself neglected any explicit man-on-man action–it was only subtly hinted at--Roy has afforded Gallagher the opportunity to explore his homoerotic side on film in the newest adaptation.

"The film is sexually graphic. It's not rampant...but there is one very hot same-sex scene," Roy said to Page Six columnists. "We just put the 'gay' back into Dorian Gray."

Page 1 / 2 - Next