Mr. Shakes and I were chatting this evening about a certain actor who would sue my ass if I were to suggest that he’s gay, and in the course of this random speculation to entertain ourselves, I said, “You know how you know he’s gay? Because he’s never played a gay character. Everyone’s playing gay these days!” I was kidding, of course, but then we started listing all the actors who have played LGBT roles, and, well, it’s pretty darn long. Below the fold is whom we came up with off the top of our heads (and I left out a few that were too offensive to bother recounting, and tried to stick to actors whose names were at least vaguely recognizable to general audiences); remind us who we missed in comments—and then discuss:
A) When will an openly gay actor play a notable gay leading role, a la Brokeback?
B) Are there really that many more men “playing gay,” or is Shakespeare’s Sister just lame with the lesbian film references? Or, like the rest of Hollywood, is there just a dearth of good gay roles for women, too?
C) Who on my “Straight (and ostensibly straight)” lists is totally gay? (May rhyme with Spevin Kacey.)
Out LGBT Actors in LGBT Roles:
Alexis Arquette (trans in The Wedding Singer)
Alan Cumming (Coming Out)
Jaye Davidson (trans in The Crying Game)
Rupert Everett (The Next Best Thing, My Best Friend’s Wedding)
Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy et al)
Stephen Fry (Wilde, V for Vendetta)
Michael Jeter (The Fisher King)
Angelina Jolie (Gia)
Nathan Lane (The Birdcage et al)
Ian McKellan (Gods and Monsters)
John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
Straight (or ostensibly straight) Male Actors in GBT Roles:
Jason Alexander (Love! Valour! Compassion!)
Hank Azaria (The Birdcage)
Stephen Baldwin (Threesome)
Christian Bale (Velvet Goldmine)
Antonio Banderas (Philadelphia)
Zach Braff (Broken Hearts Club)
Matthew Broderick (Torch Song Trilogy)
Dean Cain (Broken Hearts Club)
Christian Campbell (Trick)
Russell Crowe (The Sum of Us)
Macaulay Culkin (Party Monster)
Matt Damon (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
Bruce Davison (Longtime Companion)
Daniel Day-Lewis (My Beautiful Laundrette)
Johnny Depp (The Libertine)
Robert Downey, Jr. (Home for the Holidays, Wonder Boys)
Colin Farrell (A Home at the End of the World, Alexander)
Jake Gyllenhall (Brokeback Mountain)
Anthony Michael Hall (Six Degrees of Separation)
Harry Hamlin (Making Love)
Tom Hanks (Philadelphia)
John Hannah (Four Weddings and a Funeral)
Ed Harris (The Hours)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Boogie Nights, and trans in Flawless)
Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets)
Kevin Kline (In & Out, De-Lovely)
Jude Law (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Wilde)
Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)
John Leguizamo (To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar)
Robert Sean Leonard (In the Gloaming)
John Lithgow (trans in The World According to Garp)
Ewan McGregor (Velvet Goldmine)
Dermot Mulroney (Longtime Companion)
Cillian Murphy (Breakfast on Pluto)
Liam Neeson (bi in Kinsey)
Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon)
Guy Pearce (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert)
River Phoenix (My Own Private Idaho)
Dennis Quaid (Far From Heaven)
Keanu Reeves (My Own Private Idaho)
Ving Rhames (Holiday Heart)
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Velvet Goldmine)
The Rock (Be Cool)
Paul Rudd (The Object of My Affection)
Peter Sarsgaard (Kinsey)
Campbell Scott (Longtime Companion)
Tom Selleck (In & Out)
Will Smith (Six Degrees of Separation)
Wesley Snipes (To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar)
Kevin Spacey (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil)
Terence Stamp (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert)
Patrick Stewart (Jeffrey)
Patrick Swayze (To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar)
James van der Beek (The Rules of Attraction)
Hugo Weaving (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert)
Steven Weber (Jeffrey)
Peter Weller (Naked Lunch)
Forest Whitaker (The Crying Game)
Tom Wilkinson (trans in Normal)
Robin Williams (The Birdcage)
James Woods (The General’s Daughter)
Straight (or ostensibly straight) Female Actors in LBT Roles:
Joey Lauren Adams (bi in Chasing Amy)
Kathy Bates (Primary Colors)
Cher (Silkwood)
Joan Chen (Saving Face)
Patricia Clarkson (High Art)
Catherine Denouve (The Hunger)
Laura Dern (Silkwood)
Felicity Huffman (trans in Transamerica)
Gina Gershon (Bound)
Whoopi Goldberg (Boys on the Side)
Nicole Kidman (The Hours)
Natasha Lyonne (But I’m a Cheerleader)
Christina Ricci (Monster)
Susan Sarandon (The Hunger)
Ally Sheedy (High Art)
Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry)
Charlize Theron (Monster)
Jennifer Tilly (Bound)
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