While 2012 was the year that a lot of entertainers subtlely came out of the closet (like Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto and Jim Parsons, to name a few), can the same be said about gay actors who star in some of your favorite action movies or romantic comedies? Would people care if someone like, for example, Channing Tatum, who became 2012's 100 million-dollar A-lister with the success of The Vow, 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike were gay in his private life (for the record Channing is married to his Step Up co-star Jenna Dewan Tatum, who is currently pregnant with their first child, but that means nothing in an industry that thrives on illusion for fame and money)?
Yes we have come farther than in the mid-90's when Ellen Degeneres suffered a huge backlash after coming out on her hit sitcom. She has since bounced back with her 10-year-old hit daytime talk show, but in some cases we still have a long way to go in regards of LGBT performers of color and getting their stories told.. We also got a taste of some reminded bigotry when author Bret Easton Ellis made negative comments about Matt Bomer being in the running to play Christian Grey in the highly-anticipate 50 Shades of Grey movie. Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) and Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) are also alleged to be in the running for the role.
“OK, I’ll say it. Matt Bomer isn’t right for Christian Grey because he is openly gay. He’s great for other roles but this is too big a game,” Ellis tweeted in August.
Author Jackie Collins also revealed that Bomer was in the running to play Superman in a 2003 version (that never happened), but casting directors didn't book him because they didn't want to risk hiring someone who was out in the industry but not out to the public. Bomer has had the last laugh, since he showed off his action chops on the pilot for Chuck (where he was the original Intersect) and is currently on the hit USA series White Collar.
Howard Bragman, a celebrity publicist to the stars who has also helped a lot of celebrities come out agreed that while it is great that gay actors have come out with little to no backlash, he says that no Hollywood A-lister is looking to risk the millions they make to live their truth:
“The opposite is true. You have certain movie stars who will sue you if you imply they’re gay. So we certainly have a way to go,” Bragman said.
“A lot of it has to do with younger actors. Younger people just aren’t in the closet. I mean, I know plenty who are but in large part, many aren’t and won’t live in the closet,” Bragman said.
“A lot of actors have said to me ‘I don’t know what will happen to my career after I come out but I’d rather live honestly than make millions of dollars a year and be a liar and not live my truth.’ Every single person I’ve worked with who has come out is happier. The weight of the world has been lifted from their shoulders,” he added.
Maybe it all boils down to the type of industry you're in. If you are an actor making movies for a religious-based audience or a country singer (like Chely Wright) you may have a harder time having success being out. But then again Frank Ocean is the first urban musician to come out of the closet and have a successful album (with a few Grammy nominations) and Orlando Cruz is the first welterweight boxer to come out as gay, so anything is possible. I hope that one day we will have the first out action movie star or gay romcom king and no one will give a fuck, but I think the only ones who will help bring that change to the world is the next generation, since they are the ones who have become more exposed to LGBT issues in the media than their elders.
At the end of the day an actor's job is to portray characters that is far removed from who they are in their real life, so I don't understand why people can look past someone like Charlize Theron playing a serial killer (and winning an Oscar for it), but if Jake Gyllenhaal plays a gay guy in Brokeback Mountain people start to wonder if he is in fact gay? Maybe if people focused on how to put it down in their own bedrooms instead of wondering what their favorite celebrities does in theirs, the world would be a better place.
Since there seems to be meatier roles on the small screen than the big screen, my guess is that the only way we'll see stories involving openly gay action stars or romcom leading men is on my TV.
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