Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (August 1, 2008)

AND ROCKMOND WOULD'VE LOOKED GOOD IN A DRESS, TOO
Earlier this month EW's Michael Ausiello reported that Rockmond Dunbar was joining the cast of The L Word for the final season of Showtime series. He was supposed to play a straight drag queen with a thing for Kit (Pam Grier). But when I called up Showtime to get some info on the character (a straight drag queen? Really?) a publicist said that Rockmond wasn't going to be on the show after all. Which is too bad because Dunbar is not only a fine actor, but is very easy on the eyes.

Rockmond Dunbar

I'm trying to get details on what happened to keep Dunbar off the show, but no word as of yet. It seems doubtful that Dunbar would've had issues with the role, especially given that he's played gay a number of times, most recently in Maurice Jamal's Dirty Laundry. Well, maybe the situation will resolve itself and Dunbar will turn up on the show anyway.

Thinking about Rockmond playing the part got me thinking about some of the other well known African-American actors who have donned wigs and heels. Probably my favorite was Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lola in Kinky Boots, Wesley Snipes as Noxeema Jackson in To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar and Ving Rhames as Holiday Heart in Holiday Heart. (As I said on the previous page, filmmakers seem to like putting African-American actors in dresses.)

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames

Keith Randolph Smith