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Ryan Phillippe talks to Jay Leno, manages to retain dignity
I know that you're probably thinking "What does a pic of Ryan Phillippe in a Santa suit have to do with this post?" The answer is: absolutely nothing, I just needed something to get the sour taste of his appearance last week with Jay Leno out of my mouth. Ryan appeared on The Tonight Show last Wednesday to promote his upcoming movie Stop/Loss, but Jay, ever the Junior High Schooler, wanted to needle Ryan about his role as Billy Douglas years ago on One Life To Live. As you probably know, back in the early 90's Ryan played the first openly gay soap opera teenager, and Jay found the whole idea Hilarious!. After asking Ryan if his character's name was "Lance Bedrock", he asked Ryan to turn to the camera and give his "gayest look". Ryan tried his best to maintain his composure, but he was obviously uncomfortable. You may remember that two years ago, Jeff Whitty wrote an "open letter" to Jay about his gay-baiting. After this latest incident, Jeff has released details about the conversation he had with Jay about the letter, including Jay's assertion that he was well aware of gay history, including the famous "StoneHILL Rebellion". To get the sour taste of that out of your mouth, after the break you can see Ryan in his Armani jeans commercial. Submitted by on Mon, 2008-03-24 12:56. |
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boycott leno
It was tasteless...
I'd watched the video when another site posted it. Mostly because I can't get enough Ryan - the face, body and voice are just a perfect package for me, and he's done some great art-house films, like "Little Boy Blue" which while a fairly twisted incest driven film, bared his body repeatedly.
I was pretty ticked at Jay for this, but I wasn't sure I was thrilled with Ryan, either. He was ticked, and he should have been, at the direction Jay decided to take what should have been a promo interview for "Stop-Loss." But Ryan's indignation implied a lot of shame about the older parts, now that he's playing butch. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, and it certainly won't stop me from wishing Santa really looked like that, but that seemed a bit of an over-the-top reaction from Ryan.
Ryan Uncomfortable But Why?
I didn't get the impression that some did that Ryan was somehow outraged by Jay's gay-baiting. He seems uncomfortable being put on the spot and reminded of his past work as a gay character. He wanted to run as far away from that as possible. I found that reaction just as annoying as what Leno was doing.
I never liked it when hosts waste promotional interviews on other things rather than discussion the new project at hand. I didn't like it when Rosie did it to Selleck and I didn't like it when Leno did it with Phillippe.
Leno and Ryan both sucked.
There are guests like Drew Barrimore, George Clooney, even Julia Roberts who seem to want to have a good time while they pitch. Hosts can also play a great role in shaking things shaking-up, as exemplified to me by David Letterman's grilling of Paris Hilton. While some found it mean-spirited as even she has feelings, but did anyone really want to hear only about her perfume? Fair game as far as I am concerned.
I am not advocating throwing your guests under the bus, I hate it when guests play the "I did not sign up for this" card for the smallest thing.
I do agree with you that I did not see much gay-baiting on Jay's part and was surprised to see how Ryan is so pathetic. Even a pre-movie star George Clooney totally owned and even brought clips from his less than stellar work. For Ryan not to embrace his first paying job on a soap is lame as Oscar/Emmy winners always mention that experience in a favorable light as it can be great schooling for a young actor. And the audience loved the jeans ad as it had more personality than Jay and Ryan combined.
While I don't know enough to comment on any potential previous homophobia on the part of Leno, there was a twinge of stupidity as Leno seemed clueless that Ryan did not play a typical soap "stud," so his shtick never had a chance to succeed. Any cool guest would have turned it around on him and asked him to give a gay "look" first as he did not know what that was like as his character was bashed for being gay. If you really wanted to go to town on him, Ryan could have also asked him what gay and nude had in common when Leno threw in the clip. That would have gotten some notice and it would have been a no-brainer as Ryan is not "hounded" by the tabloids for being gay. There he's known as the "cheater" so could have turned himself into a hero rather than what appeared to be a focus on being a "thespian."
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Mad Comix Presents: Butch vs. Butch
afhickman
"It takes a village (to make Village People)"
I remember years back when Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix were being interviewed about their "gay" roles in "My Own Private Idaho," and the interviewer asked if they'd like to do Shakespeare (MOPI is partly based on Henry IV). Reeves said they could do Romeo and Juliet and River said he wanted to be Juliet. Now, that's being casual about playing gay. Too bad they never did the movie.
If Leno really wanted to embarrass Phillippe, why didn't he ask him about "54"? I don't think either one of these guys scored any points here--Phillippe especially. You'd think he would be used to being gay-baited by closet cases and could come up with some witty rejoinders of his own--like, I don't know, you suck, Leno. Or something equally clever.
Straight Male Rage
I've seen those expressions so many times when a guy's masculinity and sexuality are called into question. Ryan's behavior is his own doing.
This article isn't even serious. It's just another way to put a picture of a half-naked straight male up. I remember when AfterElton was a small site that did serious pieces on gay people and issues. Last week Christian Siriano was on The Tonight Show and had a great interview with Jay. That didn't get covered because he's gay. I don't believe Jay is anti-gay. He unfortunately goes to the anti-gay well way too often to get a laugh which is bad.
dukiestoy, Tom Selleck was told BEFOREHAND that she might bring up his association with the NRA. Tom Selleck, conservatives and Rosie-haters have tried to play the victim to further their causes.
so tell me, Evan...
Good point.
agreed!
Yeah, I never quite get that point of view from people either. Rosie talked about what she intended to talk to Tom Selleck about the entire week before. If he was actually surprised, than his own PR people did a lousy job of not letting him in on what the rest of the Rosie's massive audience knew all along.
Does it ever occur to anyone that most actors are insecure about
While it should not matter......
Ryan has done good work in Crash, Gonsford Park, Flags of our Fathers, Cruel Intentions, and last year's Breach. He may not have an Oscar, but we're not talking about Pauley Shore or someone like that either, so he should have been a gentleman about his acting "journey" as it's really no different than any of us going to an interview and ragging on our previous employers.
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Jay was just going to cheap laughs
That was so painful to watch! Jay was making cheap shots for cheap laughs because he knows he can't get away with that on A-list actors.
It's not often you see a B-list (C?) actor threaten to walk off the Tonight Show and really mean it. I think he did a great job maintaining his composure.
http://james-stephen.com
For what it's worth...
...there's a Ryan Phillippe look-a-like who rides the same train every day with me to and from work. Well, he has dark hair and coal-black eyes, but I swear, he could be Ryan's twin. I'm pretty sure he's aware I stare and drool at him the whole time.
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