Can Straight Actors Play Gay Roles?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — LGBT Film
XFiles25 — 9 years ago(July 20, 2016 04:25 AM)
Do you think a straight/non gay actor can be good and convincing in a gay role.
One performance that doesnt convince me is
Marlon Brando in Reflections In A Goldeneye (1967)
Interesting film, but Brando wasnt very good at playing a gay man, he wasnt in real life and the role was offered to actor Montgomery Clift who was gay and closeted, like the character in the film, but he died before production. -
dperth-33500 — 9 years ago(July 20, 2016 08:02 AM)
While there's something to be said about genuine gay person playing a gay role, I don't see why the actor necessarily needs to be gay to play a convincing role. One of my favorite lesbian movies is
D.E.B.S.
which stars two straight women. I also love Natasha Lyonne who is married to a man yet frequently portrays a lesbian on film. Maybe it's different for women though since all women are at least a little bit bisexual. -
coldnaps — 9 years ago(July 20, 2016 08:39 AM)
Xie, you've been down this road a dozen times. Bottom line: any good actor can play ANY role. And good actors are always looking to stretch their acting chops to play diverse/unusual/challenging roles.
Brando doesn't convince you in RIAGE because you (if you've actually seen it, that is) went into it already biased and not wanting to be convinced. -
XFiles25 — 9 years ago(July 20, 2016 08:43 AM)
Well there are things that bothered me
Brando playing a gay man doesnt work as he wasnt gay and was too masculine to play a man basically afraid of his wife and if he was married to Taylor he wouldnt be interested in the soldier.
The weird lighting of the film -
theOnlyOutsider — 9 years ago(October 17, 2016 06:43 PM)
I think if someone is "too masculine" they're a dead giveaway. Oh that guy must get all the ladies! Or is that the idea? I also think as a culture we over emphasize the need for intercourse. We put all our cards down on love. Why not put all of our love into what we do? Real love is rare. I think most people choose to be in a relationship because they have this obsessive tendency to be needed. Or they have an issue and can't keep squid-ward in they jaws. and knock a chick up. End up living a miserable life married to some broad that doesn't love them.
We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known. -
kenneglds — 9 years ago(December 04, 2016 03:41 AM)
For the most part every actor that played gay in a film, or took part in a gay sex/kiss scene, from the 1960s through the 1990s was straight. There used to be an unwritten rule that only straight actors could play gay in movies.
it was considered too risky for a Closeted
gay actor to do so, as it could lead to rumours that the closeted gay actor was in fact gay. But this has changed in the 2000s.
There may have been exceptions (for example, Rupert Everett) to said unwritten rule, but MOST of the actors playing gay, in movies,1960's-1990's were straight.
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Jade_The_Messenger — 9 years ago(December 29, 2016 08:05 AM)
As long as the actors are comfortable with taking part in same-sex kissing/touching.
I'm a straight woman yet I'm offended when I watch a scene that was clearly shot in a way for the actors to avoid kissing or physical contact for intimacy.
If the actor/actress plays gay/bisexual, 100% commit to it or don't do it period.
Just because someone does something good for you, that doesn't mean they're good for you. -
truetexian — 9 years ago(January 18, 2017 10:40 AM)
Is your question for real or being thrown out with a wink?
I assume you're aware that Brando's same-sex encounters have been substantiated beyond innuendo and rumor, no?
Not getting into all that"Can Straight Actors Play Gay Roles?"
Why not? "Gay" ones have been playing "straight" ones "good" and "convincingly" since the beginning of time. -
XFiles26 — 9 years ago(January 20, 2017 05:11 AM)
Well apparently, their is no evidence of that
Seeing as he was a father, 17 times with many different women, married 3 times and was a famous womaniser, Many women have admitted affairs with him, he dated Marilyn Monroe, Ursula Andress, Rita Moreno and Allegedly Vivian Leigh.
Not a fan but I had to say that.