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Noted film critic Barry Norman once said that "where romantic leading men are concerned, cinema audiences are still
homophobic." Whilst such is open to question, what is not in doubt is that Hollywood itself is largely
homophobic when it comes to its leading men.
For take away the out and proud British contingent, remove the gay actors on the Stateside indie circuit, subtract
the names of the posthumous 'now known to be gay' stars and the number of A-list openly gay American actors
working in Hollywood comes in at one big ZERO!
Not that this is the case, of course. For Hollywood is full of actors who are gay, only their names, like the men
themselves, remain in the closet by way of personal choice, or from pressure put upon them from above. All of
which is a somewhat ironic situation, when you consider that Los Angeles has one of the finest lesbian
and gay support networks in the world.
But then, this is Hollywood and not LA, a place where being in the closet is good for business, given
the perception of limited career choices for those American actors who commit the ultimate taboo
and publicly dare to say it, like it is.
But is that really the case?
What is clear is that Hollywood loves to think of itself as a freethinking, liberal minded industry, but in reality
it remains deeply conservative, in constant fear of trying out anything radically new and deeply suspicious of
anything or anyone who do not abide by the protocols of the trade. For as John Barrowman remarked: "gay
men and women in America, especially in Hollywood, are the worst and the most homophobic...they
find out you're gay and they don't want to touch you."
In short, it's just not ideal to be gay in Hollywood. At least to be 'openly gay' in Hollywood. For to remain in the
closet and provided that you have the talent to back it up, is to court the fame and the multi-million dollar
fortune that go hand-in-hand with the role of the leading man. And a straight leading man at that too.
For in the end Hollywood is but a celluloid premier league, one in which its players, like those in football, feel
ill at ease to publicly acknowledge their sexuality to be anything other than that of heterosexual. And the
day in which that is no longer the case, will be the day in which Hollywood can finally hold
its head up high and in all honesty call itself a freethinking, liberal minded
industry. Only here, I wouldn't hold your breath!
"I know there are plenty of gay Hollywood actors out there.
I'm just tired of waiting until they die and their
biographies come out to find out who the hell they are!"
›› from the play THE STAND-IN by Keith Curran ‹‹
If I had been straight, I "would have made a lot more money
- probably 20 times more money."
›› Rupert Everett ‹‹
If Rock Hudson "were at his peak today and openly gay, would things be better?
Probably not. He might find a niche as a chat-show host on TV, but
the movies would have little to do with him."
›› Barry Norman ‹‹
"Most people in those roles are conservative, most people who run
big businesses in America are conservative, most newspaper
chains are run by people who are conservative."
›› former studio head / producer Daniel Melnick ‹‹
"Half the people in Hollywood are dying to be discovered
- the other half are afraid they will be!"
›› Lionel Barrymore ‹‹
"I'm not a romantic leading man any more, so I don't need
to nurture that [straight] public image."
›› Richard Chamberlain ‹‹
The "casting people, industry people, they find out you're gay
and they don't want to touch you, you're a hurdle to
be overcome, you're not marketable."
›› John Barrowman ‹‹
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