Beyond the Gay Role

Given the fact that Sean Penn just nabbed an Oscar for playing gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, surely there is still no stigma attached to playing gay, right?

That’s an easy assumption for many viewers – gay and straight – to make, but what do the men who play these roles believe?  

AfterElton.com talked with a number of actors who have played gay roles past and present for their thoughts. Do they think playing a gay role can help, hurt or have no real effect on their careers? How has that changed over the years? What do their peers think? And have we finally moved beyond the stigma a gay role once carried?

Their answers might surprise you. 

Surprising reaction to gay role on “Raising The Bar.”

On TNT’s hit legal drama, Raising the Bar, Jonathan Scarfe plays Charlie Sagansky, a law clerk working for a powerful female judge (played by Jane Kaczmarek) with whom he has sex, in part to keep his legal career on track. What makes this plot point run even deeper is that Charlie is a deeply closeted gay man, fearful the revelation about his sexuality would permanently stall his political aspirations. 

In talking with Scarfe about taking on the role of Charlie, the straight actor said, “The sexuality of the character didn’t matter to me at all. It wasn’t the most interesting thing about the part. Usually when you get hired on a TV series, you’re getting hired to be a cool version of yourself. Charlie was so different from me. … I’m a guy who can’t keep my mouth shut and I don’t hide anything. [Charlie’s] the opposite of me in that way and that’s intriguing.”

Part of the reality in taking on a gay role for any actor is dealing with the reaction of acting peers as well as agents and managers. Asked if his agent had any hesitation about his taking a gay role in a highly publicized Steven Bochco drama, Scarfe laughed and said, “My agent is gay so he thought it was awesome.” 

The actor added, however, that many of his actor friends did not possess the same enthusiasm and, instead, many of them are fearful about playing gay roles.

Scarfe owned up to initially not understanding where the fear of his friends came from. “When you’re a guy like me, you’re just an actor trying to play a role whether it’s Jesus, a gay role or Custer. I’m just being an actor. … I can only see it as a positive when people respond to your playing a role, gay or straight. [However], a lot of friends I have who are gay and actors would shy away from [the part of Charlie Sagansky] because they’re uncomfortable with being fully out publicly. I’ve always said ‘You’re crazy!  It’s 2008.  It’s Hollywood!  Nobody gives a shit!’” 

Scarfe (left) with Raising the Bar castmates
Jane Kaczmarek and Mark-Paul Gosselaar

However, after shooting the first season and playing Charlie, Scarfe said he unexpectedly gained insight into his friends’ apprehension when he received some on-set ribbing from members of the Raising the Bar crew.

“It was shocking to me,” he said. “The number of gay jokes I got in a day just because I’m playing a gay guy. Nobody was being malicious or mean in any way, but that’s the sort of natural reflex. It made me go back to my good friend who I’ve argued with for ages on this subject, telling him ‘you can’t hide this’ and ‘it’s bullshit’ and, instead, I had to tell him that I finally got what he’d been saying.”      

Scarfe also mentioned another issue facing successful actors: how being on a long-running series can impact the way in which an actor is perceived by audiences and the Hollywood community, whether the role is gay or straight. 

Scarfe cited Eric McCormack, who played Will Truman on Will & Grace for eight successful seasons as an example. “I’d argue that Eric is suffering not for playing a gay role but a role on a long-running sitcom.”