# Straights Actors Playing Gay Characters, and vice-versa, in Popular TV & Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562 "2014-01-12T04:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/41 "2014-01-13T01:20:49Z")
IIRC the closest canon Star Trek has ever come to hinting at Sulu’s sexuality in either direction was him having a daughter in Generations; which of course wouldn’t really mean anything _now_, let alone 3 hundred years in a future where interspecies hybrids are absurdly common. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/42 "2014-01-13T01:27:32Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > IIRC the closest canon Star Trek has ever come to hinting at Sulu’s sexuality in either direction was him having a daughter in Generations Well, we get to count Takei as Mirror-Sulu pawing at Regular-Uhura, right? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/43 "2014-01-13T01:31:03Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Well, we get to count Takei as Mirror-Sulu pawing at Regular-Uhura, right? Eh, I think that counts about as much as Mirror-Kira’s predatory lesbianism. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/44 "2014-01-13T01:46:32Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Eh, I think that counts about as much as Mirror-Kira’s predatory lesbianism. Ah, but I’m not using it to count toward Regular-Sulu being heterosexual, but toward whether Takei played a heterosexual character – namely, Mirror-Sulu – on TOS. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/45 "2014-01-13T02:48:06Z")
…aaaand Michael Douglas just won the Golden Globe for playing Liberace. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/46 "2014-01-13T03:10:15Z")
I’ve heard several times here that John Mahoney is gay. Neither his imdb or, more surprisingly, his Wikipedia pave, mention it. So I’ll need a cite. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/47 "2014-01-13T03:30:20Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > I’ve heard several times here that John Mahoney is gay. Neither his imdb or, more surprisingly, his Wikipedia pave, mention it. So I’ll need a cite. If it helps, Mahoney has played gay roles – on **ER** and in **The Broken Hearts Club**. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/48 "2014-01-13T14:45:29Z")
Straight actors playing a gay couple. Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas in Philadelphia. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. Gay actors playing a straight couple: Harvey Fierstein and Rosie O’Donnell as Teyvre and Golde in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/49 "2014-01-13T14:53:59Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > …aaaand Michael Douglas just won the Golden Globe for playing Liberace. Liberace was gay?! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/50 "2014-01-13T15:00:43Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > I’ve heard several times here that John Mahoney is gay. Neither his imdb or, more surprisingly, his Wikipedia pave, mention it. So I’ll need a cite. More surprising, he’s British! I’ve heard it was pretty evident in his past but kept his private life quiet. In [this](http://www.timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/theater/55705/john-mahoney-interview)interview he mentions that sex has been over for him for years. 25 years or so ago he had colon cancer and has a colostomy. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/51 "2014-01-13T15:04:46Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Liberace was gay?! :eek: Dammit, **Loach** , you screwed up this joke. I came in here to post: Wait, you’re saying Michael Douglas is GAY??? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/52 "2014-01-13T16:02:59Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > Dammit, **Loach** , you screwed up this joke. I came in here to post: > > Wait, you’re saying Michael Douglas is GAY??? I flipped a coin. I decided to riff on the fact that some were genuinely surprised that he was gay, he started off being portrayed as popular with the ladies and he won a libel lawsuit against a newspaper that said he was gay. The other way would have worked too. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/53 "2014-01-13T19:55:49Z")
Aren’t straight actors playing gay characters, and vice versa, almost as common as gay characters and gay actors, respectively? I’ve never been aware of any tendency to attempt to cast gay actors as gay characters. I don’t mean to be facetious, but they are _actors_ after all. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/54 "2014-01-13T20:52:03Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Aren’t straight actors playing gay characters, and vice versa, almost as common as gay characters and gay actors, respectively? I’ve never been aware of any tendency to attempt to cast gay actors as gay characters. I don’t mean to be facetious, but they are _actors_ after all. As with the other “whats the big deal” posts on here you are kind of not looking at this in context. Its probably been less than 10 years since it has become _almost_ no big deal. In the very recent past a straight actor, especially a leading man type, had to look long and hard at what playing a gay character would mean for his career and future roles. Mostly gay actors stayed in the closet for fear that being out would limit their roles. What may seem common now was not so common until very recently. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/55 "2014-01-13T22:40:57Z")
In the film _Deathtrap_ Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve, both straight in real life, kill off Caine’s wife, so they can become a couple, but it appears that Caine’s character may just be pretending to be gay to steal a play by Reeve’s character and, of course, use Reeve to do the actual killing of his (Caine’s) wife and wants to kill off Reeve’s character also. So is Caine’s character really gay? Reeve’s is, but it’s not clear on Caine’s. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/56 "2014-01-13T23:07:57Z")
Perhaps one the earliest examples of a well-known, straight male playing an openly gay character comes in _Staircase_ (late '60s) staring as gay hairdressers in a committed (if confused) relationship were Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. Both were at the height of their acting powers…An interesting side note; Clint Eastwood called Burton (whom he had just starred with in _Where Eagles Dare_) and told him not to do the film because it would destroy his career. Richard Chamberlin was a major television heartthrob for generations of women. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/57 "2014-01-13T23:12:25Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > In the film _Deathtrap_ Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve, both straight in real life, kill off Caine’s wife, so they can become a couple, but it appears that Caine’s character may just be pretending to be gay to steal a play by Reeve’s character and, of course, use Reeve to do the actual killing of his (Caine’s) wife and wants to kill off Reeve’s character also. So is Caine’s character really gay? Reeve’s is, but it’s not clear on Caine’s. I think you’re misremembering… [SPOILERS] …Caine _doesn’t_ want to steal Reeve’s play. At the time of the murder, there _is_ no play; Caine convinces his wife the guy’s written a play he wants to steal, but Reeve doesn’t actually start writing one until after she’s been killed – a play Caine then wants to _destroy,_ since it’s about a closeted playwright and his gay lover murdering said wife, and, uh, yeah, no; he’d rather just live off that sweet inheritance money than get _any_ percentage of that ever seeing the light of day. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/58 "2014-01-13T23:13:39Z")
Would you say the character of Mycroft Holmes is straight? If so, then his depiction by Mark Gatiss in _Sherlock_ would qualify. Maybe Mycroft is just asexual, though, like his brother. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/59 "2014-01-15T17:31:03Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > As with the other “whats the big deal” posts on here you are kind of not looking at this in context. Its probably been less than 10 years since it has become _almost_ no big deal. In the very recent past a straight actor, especially a leading man type, had to look long and hard at what playing a gay character would mean for his career and future roles. Mostly gay actors stayed in the closet for fear that being out would limit their roles. What may seem common now was not so common until very recently. I’m not sure this is really relevant to what I was asking/saying, but I fear I’m already getting close to a threadshit, so I’d better shut up! ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562/60 "2014-01-15T17:55:21Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > In the film _Deathtrap_ Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve, both straight in real life, kill off Caine’s wife, so they can become a couple, but it appears that Caine’s character may just be pretending to be gay to steal a play by Reeve’s character and, of course, use Reeve to do the actual killing of his (Caine’s) wife and wants to kill off Reeve’s character also. So is Caine’s character really gay? Reeve’s is, but it’s not clear on Caine’s. This reminded me of a movie in which the big twist at the end is that the two men are gay and they conspired to kill the one’s wife. Polly Walker plays the wife. I’m going to spoiler tag the title and the two straight actors playing gay (actually, playing gay men who are playing straight) so as not to ruin it for anyone: it’s **Dark Harbor** , the two actors are Alan Rickman and Norman Reedus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straights-actors-playing-gay-characters-and-vice-versa-in-popular-tv-movies/678562.md?page=4)