For some reason, Bobby Canavale plays a macho gay guy multiple times. He was Keith’s closeted, asshole co-worker in Six Feet Under, the last time I turned to Will & Grace, he was Will’s boyfriend. When I saw him in The Guru, I thought he was finally breaking type - I thought his first few seconds on screen as an insignificant co-worker would be his last - turns out he pops back into the story at the twist ending as being mutually in love with the leading lady’s fiance. I know he plays straight roles, I’ve seen him in “Sex & The City” and Happy Endings, a movie that had plenty of gay content that surprisingly excluded Canavale, but multiple roles of that specific type seem odd for one actor. How do you think a guy falls into a role like that?
“Casting against type” is an odd phenomenon. Sometimes it works, though.
I think gay characters in really butch roles are designed to challenge our preconceived notions of homosexuality. The neighbor who kisses Kevin Spacey in AMERICAN BEAUTY was like that, too.