Ask the Flying Monkey! (May 14, 2009)

Q: [I’m] wondering if there had ever been a gay couple in a movie or on the tele where off-screen one actor was straight and the other actor was openly gay/bisexual? -- Lt Gen Oohlala of the Red Ribbon Army Communication Division, Sexxy Sector

A: Interesting question, and yes, it’s happened many times. Luke Macfarlane (gay) and Matthew Rhys (straight) on Brothers & Sisters is a recent example, but there’s also John Barrowman (gay) and Gareth David-Lloyd (straight) on Torchwood; Randy Harrison (gay) and Gale Harold (straight) and Robert Gant (gay) and Hal Sparks (straight) (and others) on Queer as Folk; Nathan Lane (gay) and Robin Williams (straight) in The Birdcage; Darryl Stephens (gay) and Jensen Atwood (straight) (and others) on Noah’s Arc; and Harvey Fierstein (gay) and Matthew Broderick and Brian Kerwin (straight) in Torch Song Trilogy.

Jensen Atwood and Darryl Stephens as Wade and Noah in Noah's Arc

There are also quite a few examples where both actors were straight (the movies Brokeback Mountain, Maurice, and Jeffrey, and the TV show Dawson’s Creek), and also where both actors were gay (the Hitchcock movie Rope, though the actors weren’t open at the time, and the TV show It’s All Relative).

I’m certain there are many more examples of each. Readers?

Luke MacFarlane and Matthew Rhys — a popular gay/straight actor pairing

Q: I could pretend that this is question isn't about my fetish for hot French actors, but we both know I'd be lying. The book The Vintner's Luck (which, if you haven't read, you should) has been turned into a film by Niki Caro (of Whale Rider fame), starring Gaspard Ulliel as a fallen angel who develops a lifelong, and at times highly erotic, relationship with a French winemaker in the 19th century. It's supposed to be in post production, so can the omniscient Flying Monkey find out anything about release dates, gossip from the set, photos of Gaspard with his kit off -- you know the drill.  – Tim, New Zealand

Gaspard Ulliel

A: An American date has not yet been scheduled, though the producers are hoping to drum up interest at the Cannes Film Festival, which began yesterday.

As for Ulliel, who played a young Hannibal Lector in Hannibal Rising, he is, unfortunately, straight. But he has played gay-ish before, in the 2004 French coming-of-age film The Last Day.

Ulliel (right) in The Last Day (Le dernier jour)

Next page! More Ulliel pics, Wallflower perks and Hidden Cameras.