However, in the next year or two, we will likely see a pair of sought-after gay/gay-adjacent roles that are either going to get tons of pre-press and/or carry with it Great Oscar Expectations. Both actors will play characters who were HIV-positive during the 1980s. Mark Ruffalo will play Ned Weeks in Ryan Murphy's The Normal Heart from Plan B Productions opposite Julia Roberts in a film that will lens the beginning of next year, but won't reportedly release until 2014 (once upon a time, Barbra Streisand tried to get the film version off the ground as director). Though the film is fictitious, it's largely based on the life of playwright and activist Larry Kramer. Matthew McConaughey has been making news lately for his recent incredible weight loss. He looks horrible, so I'm hoping that filming will get underway soon for his role as Ron Woodroof, the real-life straight homophobic HIV-pioneer in The Dallas Buyer's Club, who dealt with the disease during a decade when it was largely known as The Gay Plague. Brad Pitt was once attached to the project WAY back. Who knows when filming is going to start, but new cast members are getting added as we speak, so it could be anytime in the next couple months. Expect a 2013 release if it does.
Ruffalo has developed a strong resume over the last decade since You Can Count On Me skyrocketed his career and has one nomination under his belt for playing a sperm-donating chef in The Kids Are All Right. McConaughey has had more success at the box-office, with help or otherwise. Yet, interestingly enough, in the initial phases of their respective careers, both men have taken on second billing in a variety of movies with female costars who arguably were the bigger star. McConaughey: Boys on the Side, A Time to Kill, Contact, The Wedding Planner, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Ruffalo: View from the Top, My Life Without Me, In the Cut, 13 Going on 30, Just Like Heaven, Rumor Has It, The Kids Are All Right. No judgment there, just interesting. I can't think of any actors of their generation with more of such films under their belt. Also, please note, both Ruffalo and McConaughey are straight.
With respect to The Normal Heart, there are many in the LGBT community who refer to straight actors playing roles such as Weeks as "faggot face," to put it bluntly, the gay equivalent of "blackface." The recent release of Cloud Atlas, which portrays of all kinds of [insert race/gender here]-face, has helped spark such discussions, for better or worse (with Atlas, since just about every race is portrayed by someone of another, and both genders are sometimes represented by someone of the opposite gender, I've had no trouble assuming the best intentions of the directors, one of whom had a nontraditional journey to her true gender). The argument is that a gay role should be played by a gay actor, as gay actors are an oppressed sexual identity in the film industry; they're type-cast out of straight roles by the meer fact that they're gay, so there should be a reverse-discrimination process against straight actors to even the playing field. The argument is: why should a straight actor profit professionally from a role depicting someone of an oppressed sexuality, when there is a stigmatization which still exists that persuades some to remain in the closet. Or, at the very least, there is the perceived fear that certain gay actors, based on the types of roles they have built their success on, would best serve their career by staying in the closet. The argument is: why not reward those who are brave enough to live their life without shame with roles that should be played by no others?
True enough, there are plenty of actors who have come out in the last couple of years (or who had always been out) who are doing just fine career-wise: Neil Patrick Harris, Zachary Quinto, Matthew Bomer, Cheyenne Jackson, Alan Cumming, Chris Colfer, Nathan Lane, etc. And there out lesbians also who continue to be in demand: Lily Tomlin, Jane Lynch, Portia de Rossi, etc. Most of them are TV-show headliners and have dabbled a bit in movie supporting roles, though none of them have enjoyed a part as the romantic dramatic lead in a major motion picture. Well, I take that back. There was Moment to Moment with Tomlin opposite, ahem, John Travolta of all people, but that was before being out was a thing.
"Romantic lead" is something reserved for someone whom Hollywood has big plans for. The jury is still out on who will play heterosexual Christian in the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey, and it's possible that Bomer is still in consideration, with a contingent of fans rallying to his support. It will be interesting if their efforts end up being fruitful, as the conventional wisdom is, flatly: women want straight actors in straight roles, because a gay actor would ruin their fantasy. I have absolutely zero idea if this is true or not, or where it falls in the grey area, so to speak. After talking with some of my lady friends, the consensus depends on whether or not they find the actor sexually appealing to them, regardless of their personal life. Some do, other don't. If the out, yet private Bomer were to buck the system and score the role, it would definitely be a milestone that I would love to see happen. Chances are, however, there will be little speak of Oscar regarding Fifty Shades. Just a hunch.
And, when it comes to Oscar, there are few out actors who have appeared in the leading acting categories. There are those who have had rumors floated about them, both young (Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jeremy Renner) and old (John Travolta, Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey), whether true, false, or something in between. But, Sir Ian McKellan, who was nominated thirteen years ago for his role as director James Whale in Gods and Monsters, swept just about every ancillary award out there before losing the big one to the crazy Italian who walked across the tops of seats to collect his award and mainstream America hasn't heard from ever since (Roberto Benigni ... gee, thanks, Harvey Weinstein). Feel free to correct me, but I believe McKellan has been the only out actor nominated for an acting Oscar, and it was for playing gay role. As far as actresses, Jodie Foster has been living in the glass closet with her partner and two sons, and my understanding is her extremely private and non-advertised relationship didn't even start until 1993, after she had won her two Oscars. (she was nominated one more time for 1994's Nell)
It's kind of sobering. I always knew Hollywood was homophobic, but looking at these facts, the lead Oscars are really a straight-person's game. As far as the supporting categories, no out actors nominated come to mind either. Can you think of any?
Ruffalo seems like a pretty sensitive guy who I imagine is aware of these complexities or will be by the time he finally assumes the role. I imagine he'll want to do the part and the gay community justice, knowing full well there is a great deal of pressure lying on his shoulders. I've always enjoyed him as an actor. While he doesn't have the widest range, or seems to choose roles that only show off a portion of it, I find that he has this vulnerability to him and fearlessness of being in the moment that I quite enjoy. He's generally pretty adorable in those aforementioned boyfriend roles, especially in one of my favorites 13 Going on 30. He has also appeared in some pretty stellar films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and his reunion with Kenneth Lonergan, Margaret. My favorite performance of his is probably still his breakthrough role in 2000's You Can Count On Me. I haven't seen the movie since its initial release, but I recall him playing a messed-up character whom I really felt for. Additionally, the chemistry between him and Laura Linney, who played his sister, was insane. It's of some comfort that, out of the straight actors out there, Ruffalo is assuming the role. Still, it gets me thinking in ways I hadn't thought of before.
[Note: This post was originally only half this length, but thank you to commenter Steve50 over at Awards Daily who got my mind going on this.]
0 comments:
Post a Comment