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Playing it StraightDavid Hyde Pierce in Down With Love (2003)
In Mark Rappaport’s film Rock Hudson’s Home Movies (1992), he posits that Tony Randall was cast in Hudson’s rom-coms opposite Doris Day to make Rock look more like a straight guy. And while Randall’s characters were always, presumably, interested in getting the girl, he was always the fey Eric Blore to Hudson’s Fred Astaire. And that’s the vibe that Hyde Pierce brings to this homage to the Rock-and-Doris genre, giving us the full-on urban eunuch while chasing after the delectable Sarah Paulson. (No matter that his real on-screen chemistry is with Ewan McGregor. Tony, who turns up in a cameo, would probably have wanted it that way.)
0.5 Steves: But he’s doing it on purpose, so well done,
Niles.
Roddy McDowall in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
McDowall spent practically his entire life on screen, growing from the wide-eyed urchins of How Green Was My Valley (1941) and Lassie Come Home (1943) to the effete and persnickety characters he played as a Hollywood elder statesman. (Don’t miss his incredibly louche Mephistopheles on various episodes of Fantasy Island.) While McDowall’s turn as an intellectual teen troublemaker obsessed with Tuesday Weld in the cult comedy Lord Love a Duck (1966) is one to reckon with, he was never more butch than when he played Caesar, an intelligent and articulate simian who foments ape revolution in the fourth entry in the popular Planet of the Apes series. It’s an angry fight-the-power science fiction movie in talking-ape clothing, and McDowall’s ferocity is chilling.
5 Steves: You do not want to mess with Caesar, trust that. Submitted by on Tue, 2009-04-07 20:31. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media
Don't forget Sir Ian's turn in "Scandal"
where he played a decidedly heterosexual pimp --in the greatest straight sex scandal the UK has ever known.
As for Monty, according to Jack Larson he wasn't unhappy about being gay at all. His REAL unhappiness came from that awful auto accident that nearly killed him, ruined his looks and got him addicted to the drugs the doctors gave him to kill the pain.
Jack, if you're reading this will you PLEASE write your damned memoir already?
Jack Larson memoir
Larson Memoir
Instant bestseller, Jack.
"Does this cocktail glass make me look fat?"
Jack Larson
I couldn't agree more
Jack's quite willing to talk to anyone about anything, and he's been very helpful to any number of writers and critics covering people and events he knew. But for some bizarre reason he resists going whole hog and writing The Book.
I keep bugging him about this, as do many others, but Jack -- so far -- remains unmoved.
Mr. Ehrenstein
Aren't you a writer? Couldn't you convince him to do this as merely a series of conversations with you that are then transcribed? Hell, you could even do it as a series of webposts, but it'd be a shame for all involved to not be properly compensated.
My old friend and teacher Tom Dunn (may he rest in peace) always planned to write memoirs. I don't think he ever did. What a tremendous loss.
Russell Tovey plays straight
It has to be said that among his roles, I remember Russell Tovey the most in 3 roles -- Rudge, the co-pilot in Dr. Who but the one that I love him in is George in Being Human, where he plays it straight. Sure he's a werewolf but still, straight. He does like it doggie style, though. LOL
P.S. The only gay role that I remember him playing is that funny turn in Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive.
Tovey's played gay roles at
Tovey's played gay roles at least twice on Brit TV - 'Holby City' and 'Ashes to Ashes'
Incidentally:
"But, y’know, he’s still British, and they always come off just the tiniest bit gay unless they’re characters in a Guy Ritchie movie. And sometimes even then. "
Thanks for that. I'm just the tiniest bit pissed off at being stereotyped. And you're just the tiniest bit of a twat for writing it.
What I meant to say was that
The History Boys
I would say that The History Boys is textually gay. One of the boys, Posner, is gay, is completely and totally in love with Dakin, and then there is Hector, who likes to fondle the boys on the back of his motorcycle, although it's not clear if it's because he fancies them or he's a perv. Of course, it's revealed that Irwin, the other male teacher is gay too...so it becomes an overall pretty gay film/play.
That said, Russell Tovey was one of the highlights of a great cast. His performace as Rudge was great. I always liked his definition of history, "It's just one fucking thing after another."
Josie and the Pussycats!
I know it wasn't a movie
Richard Chamberlain and others
Even better in Shogun.
Also George Takai should be mentioned in Return to the River Kwai
B.D. Wong in a film called Men of War also comes to mind.
Shogan
Roddy and the Big Wave
Roddy McDowall was also pretty butch (as he could be) as the crewman in the original Poseidon Adventure who helps people get up the christmas tree to escape the ballroom before it floods.
Seconds
Tab Hunter in Damn Yankees
I would definitely include Tab Hunter's portrayal of Joe Hardy in the film version of Damn Yankees (1958); not only does he effectively portray his character's love for the wife he left behind but you believe it when he gets hot under the collar when Lola tries to seduce him.
Oh, and I want to second the choice of Richard Chamberlain in The Thorn Birds.
Tab Hunter in Polyester,
Tab Hunter in Polyester, too.
You should do one about tv
A similar list of television would be good. "Frasier" alone would fill up a couple of pages with Niles and Bulldog. And once again, like Bulldog, Neil Patrick Harris does a great job.
Pope Skippy XVI
Glad you mentioned Niles
because it's all about talent -- and context. Within the wacky world of Frasier Niles' obsession with Daphne was made perfectly real. We loved these comic creations and David Hyde Pearce, Jane Leeves, and all the others made us care about them. Their off-screen lives played no role. All that TV viewers dealt with was on-screen comedy.
The same goes for NPH and How I Met Your Mother. He plays a stright character and is enjoyed as such. This past season his casual tryst with Robin has developed into a fascinating sub-plot. She's the first woman to really get under Barney's skin and he doesn't know what to do about it. Great work by all hands.
Just as a matter of interest
Someone's projecting a bit I suspect
Zsa Zsa or Zasu?
I think that's changing. When I was growing up, the Brits in film were always a bit more precious than the Yanks, even in war. Compare David Niven's character in "Guns of Navarone" to that of Gregory Peck. Even before I knew about his politics, I imagined there was something a bit bent about Sir David. Peck, on the other hand, was a man's man. He rarely raised his voice, but then, goddammit, he didn't have to. I am also reminded of the closet full of limp-wristed also-rans who played harmless foils to "real" men like George Raft and James Cagney, who were then forced to hold their noses to ward off the stench of eau de poof. I'm thinking of Alan Mowbray and Ian Hunter and, yes, even George Sanders (his brother, Tom Conway, was the real man in the family--Zsa Zsa be damned). These pantywaists may have dated strongwilled women in the movies, but they never stood an arse-bandit's chance of actually marrying the likes of a Bette Davis, or of a Roz Russell, who was more of a man than any of them. (They were all role models of mine, by the way; oh, how I longed to be Freddie Bartholomew, who befriended those scruffy American "chaps," Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney, even though he wore an Eton jacket and said things like "topping" in "The Devil is a Sissy.")
Today, the field of British actors appearing in American films is more catholic. They run the gamut from Bob Hoskins to James McAvoy. We may have our suspicions about them, but we also know better than to take them on in a fair fight. In a way, Sean Connery changed all that. Who would you rather have a beer with?--James Bond, or that insufferable American toady, Felix?
I ask you.
He always had a stiffy (upper lip, that is)--the incomparable Alan Mowbray.
"The mountain has wings."
Cumming
Maybe it's just my love for really bad movies, but when I think of Alan Cumming going straight for roles, my mind immediately goes to his role in Romy & Michele's High School Reunion where he's infatuated with Lisa Kudrow's Michele for whole movie...
Granted, I also got bored and recently watched this movie again, so that's probably why it pops into my head so read ily.
OMG KUDOS!
...for mentioning Montgomery Clift and James Dean. <3
CONQUEST ON FMC
How Straight is Straight Enough?
Is the portrayal of a straight character only successful if he's portrayed as very masculine?
If a straight actor portrays a gay character no differently then he would a straight character vis a vis masculinity, is that always a "successful" or "believable" portrayal? Was the gay character in As Good As It Gets "stereotypical" or just an example of one "kind" of gay man?
Do gay men use the same measuring stick as straight men to evaluate a man's or a character's believable "straightness"?
Since actual gay actors (like straight actors) may be very macho or not in their actual lives, how does being gay in and of itself, impact whether or not an actor can believably portray a straight character?
If a straight actor isn't a particularly masculine man personally, should he "butch it up" in his roles in order to be believable as straight? Is this only an issue for gay actors?
We know that directors and producers often call into question a gay actor's ability to "play it straight” but we also know that those who do are backwards homophobic idiots.
There is a much broader range of gay male characters on television and in film and straight Americans who have been exposed to these images have no-doubt incorporated these concepts into their ideas of what “actual” gay men are or might be like.
Similarly, the range of expressions of masculinity for "straight" men has long since broadened to include a wide expression of character types from the overly sex-obsessed Joey to the emotionally-overwrought Ross or you could use the George Clooney to Noah Wyle scale.
It seems to me that a big part of “ traditional masculinity" for straight men is the idea that men are naturally sex- obsessed and if it weren't for women saying "no", straight men would have sex all the time (ironically a la Brian Kinney). That kind of bursting-at-the-seams masculine sexuality is part of what makes Steve McQueen an icon and sex symbol.
So is it the goal to have all male characters (gay or straight) depicted as equally "masculine" in that exact same "Steve McQueenesque" way?
If so, why is the depiction of overt sexuality from a gay male character called out by gay men as "predatory" or "stereotypical" when that same kind of behavior on the part of a straight male character is just seen as a natural (if annoying) part of masculinity?
I think what is or isn’t masculine has changed in the eyes of Americans quite a bit.
I can think of a long list of straight actors who have played straight characters believably while not being hyper-masculine themselves (Michael Ian Black, Zach Braff, Justin Long, Ewan McGregor).
Modern day male sex symbols (Zac Ephron, Ryan Reynolds, Adam Levine, Justin Timberlake, Ashton Kutcher, Chace Crawford) don't seem to exhibit that dangerous testosterone-fueled sexuality of old are often (though not always) indistinguishable stylistically from out gay men in their behavior, appearance and expression of masculinity (Cheyenne Jackson, Justin Ian Black, Neil Patrick Harris, Luke McFarlane).
So is it a generational thing? Are expectations about what is or isn't ”masculine” different for gay men depending upon whether they are in their 20s, 40s or 60s?
Why is there so much investment in the idea that gay men are indistinguishable in their expression of masculinity from straight men with a very strict and narrow idea of what is "masculine"? The term "straight-acting" being used as something to aspire to comes to mind.
I don't know if there is a different expectation of "masculinity" in the UK then there is in the US (though judging just by how differently gay men in the UK and US talk about it I think there might be) IS there something about a particular kind of American masculinity that’s behind the "Brits are a little bit gay" thing. The bar for masculinity in the US does seem to be very high.
This article and the responses to it make bring up some interesting questions for me as I listen to y’all.
Does being a gay man allow you the “distance” from conventional ideas of manliness (rooted in straight romance/sexuality) to question what is or isn’t “masculine”?
Or
Are gay men (in the absence of the need to accommodate women) more “conventional” in their expectations of how masculinity should be expressed?
"Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common." (Dorothy Parker)That's a very interesting observation
Modern day straight male "sex symbols"aren't ostentatiously "butch" as those of the past.
I expect this has a lot to do with contemporary straight female taste. If Brando were to have come along today it's very likely he would have advanced no further than Mickey Rourke.
A lot of it is driven by fads
Both within Hollywood and among viewers. In decades past Hollywood often felt some pressure to present an suitably "masculine" image of American men (such as John Wayne) which may or may not have been satisfying to both male and female viewers.
Remembering that straight male viewers are less prone to watch romantic movies (unless dragged by their wives/girlfriends) they often prefer action/adventure flicks with hyper-masculine stars like Jason Statham. Typically these studs are paired opposite very beautiful women in order to fulfill the straight male fantasy. Often the hero is some kind of martial arts, tough guy, fighter sort of character. In many cases extra favor is shown towards actors who also have this quality in real life (i.e. Chuck Norris).
Female audiences often have different expectations. They like their male stars "prettier", more sensitive and more in tune with women's needs.
Then we have the very complex issue about gay male opinions on masculinity, which are incredibly diverse and the subject of heated debates within the community. Many of us tout ourselves as "straight acting" while just as many deride the whole notion of conforming to "heterosexist" gender norms. There is no one gay position on the matter.
But in the world of entertainment there is often a very shallow mindset. Because in our entertainment culture fans want to obsess not just over the characters that actors play onscreen, but also over the actors themselves, the question of how an actor's real world life matches their most common screen persona is considered very important.
Thus many producers and directors contend that even a very "masculine" but openly-gay actor cannot play an action hero or a romantic lead because it wouldn't be "believable". Acting skills are not the question, it's what bias people would have in their perceptions knowing that the actor is gay.
Straight men want to identify with action heroes, as someone they would want to be buddies with or even be themselves. Straight women like to imagine that the romantic lead is someone who could truly be a lover to her.
So the fear is that an openly-gay actor, regardless of how "masculine" he may be, is a fantasy-killer. Straight men don't want to identify with a character played by a gay actor (or even worse a gay character). Straight women feel cheated knowing that the gay actor wasn't really enjoying making out with the actress opposite him.
So I think the real problem is still rooted in an audience tendency to try and treat the character and the actor as if they were almost the same person. Just another fruit of celebrity culture.
Playing it straight..
One of the 'Sirs' not listed I guess is Dirk Bogarde (in Our Mother’s House or other movies) and you could add to the list Ben Daniels (in Beautiful Thing).
I’m happy too to see James Dean and Montgomery Clift on this list! And Richard Chamberlain.
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R.I.P. - Heath - R.I.P. - Heath - R.I.P.
It's the Queen thing, I guess
Derek Jacobi in I, Claudius?
Leave us not forget Raymond Burr
Though he was neevr a romantic lead, the roles he played were straight-by-definition.
He on the other hand was gay as all get out. Check out the premiere footage on the A Star is Born DVD. He brings both an official dizzy starlet "date" but also the most drop-dead gorgeous sailor you've ever laid eyes on!