Ask the Flying Monkey (November 18, 2008)

Q: Okay, Monkey Man, the tent scene in Brokeback Mountain…it was hot, but, uh, not exactly realistic, if you know what I mean. So that got me wondering, since you kind of have to be gay to know how gay sex is really done, how do non-gay actors and movie directors do gay sex on screen? Do they hire a consultant? No, seriously, I want to know! – Jared, Bloomington, IN

A: The Flying Monkey knows exactly what you mean, and not just about Brokeback Mountain (2005). Then again, heterosexual love scenes in movies aren’t very realistic either (or so the Monkey has heard — this may be the one thing that the Monkey doesn’t know).

But what of Brokeback’s infamous tent scene?

“We didn't hire anyone,” producer James Schamus tells the Monkey, “but [director] Ang [Lee] is not shy about his research on everything, from what kind of jeans shepherds wore back then to what the sex would be. I know he just talked to a lot of his friends and a lot of folks he met along the way until he was satisfied.”

Schamus is now co-president at Focus Features, which produced Milk (2008), a movie that also includes its share of gay sex. Of this film, Schamus says, “I wasn't actually involved in day to day of Milk, but I have a feeling [director] Gus [Van Sant, who is gay] didn't need to hire a consultant!”

Milk director Gus van Sant (left)

Q: Is there a case where gay actors and/or crew fell in love during the filming of a movie/TV show, like Brangelina? – Andie, NY

A: No doubt the actual number of such same-sex couplings is legion, but actors are notoriously circumspect about on-set romances — gay and bi actors even more so.

Still, Sal Mineo reportedly had an affair with director Nicholas Ray on the set of Rebel Without a Cause. Raymond Burr met Robert Benevides, his partner of more than 35 years, when they were both actors on the set of Perry Mason.

Sal Mineo (left) and Nicholas Ray

Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins didn’t fall in love while working on The Last of Sheila (1973), which Sondheim wrote and Perkins starred in, but they were a couple.

Anthony Perkins (left) and Stephen Sondheim

And Cary Grant was “roommates” with Randolph Scott when they made My Favorite Wife (1940), but — assuming they were a romantic couple — they too were together even before the movie.

Randolph Scott (left) and Cary Grant

Next page! Maupin tells more Tales, and Hitchcock Psycho-analyzed for gay tendencies.