Entertainment
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Out took the entertainment industrys temperature in an attempt to determine whether the long-held assumptionthat an out gay male actor could never enjoy a career as a leading manwas still true, or whether times have finally changed.
Heres the one thing nearly everyone interviewed agreed on: We could never have had this conversation two years ago. Sure, Will & Grace had proved that gays could have mainstream feasibility. But it wasnt until last year that queers finally broke the sound barrier: Brokeback Mountain won three Academy Awards and has now grossed $175 million worldwide. In fewer than five months Lance Bass, T.R. Knight, and Neil Patrick Harris all stepped up and out. More recently, Ellen hosted the Oscars to near-universal acclaim. So have we reached a Hollywood tipping pointor at least the final plateau right before the summit?
Im not trying to sound like a Pollyanna, says Simon Halls, a gay partner at publicity powerhouse PMK/HBH, but I think what were finding is that people are far more accepting than anyone would have given them credit for.
So maybe whats standing between the A-list and the closet is not just a fear of the so-called American publicat least not of the female half, long considered to be more willing to accept gay stories and actors. To get the inside scoop, we contacted a number of Hollywoods biggest behind-the-scenes players, but many declined to discuss the topic with Out, even in the most general terms.
No one wants to offend anyone, explained one publicist, citing fears that a reader might assume a client is gay. And anyone who does have a [closeted] gay client wouldnt want their name out there either. A spokesman from GQ wouldnt even entertain the question of whether a newly out gay actor could book their cover, saying only, Thats just too hypothetical.
Heres the bad news about Hollywood big shots fears: Theyre not completely unfounded. The entertainment-industrial complex is a tangled web of financiers, distributors and studios, producers and directors, entertainment media, and, of course, actors and the advisers guiding their every move. As Bob Sugar, Jay Mohrs shark of an agent, yells in Jerry Maguire, Its not show friends; its show business.
Emotionally, I think 90% of the industry supports actors being able to live true to who they are, says Chuck James, a partner at the Gersh Agency, who represents talent like Mena Suvari and Losts Rodrigo Santoro. But there are fewer movies being made, and the last thing executives want to hear is about how many risks they have to take. At the end of the day, every actor serves at the pleasure of the producers, whose main goal is to make moneynot foment social change.
So in the name of changing society, heres a blueprint for residents of the closetglass or notwho are looking for a way out. Its based on the best advice Hollywoods elite would offer on and off the record.
1. Be a woman. Everyone agrees itd be easier for a big-name lady to make the transition, and there are more and better examples proving them right. (Portia de Rossi hasnt been considered scandalous because of her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, and the bisexual confessions of Cynthia Nixon or Angelina Jolie certainly havent hurt their careers.)
2. Failing that, be the right kind of man, which first and foremost requires that youre already a big star. Box office and ratings and awards are power, said one agent who asked not to be named. Once those things happen, if you cant live anymore in the closet, come out.
3. Be a great actor. If Jake Gyllenhaal plays a murderer, people know hes not, says Simon Halls. If a gay leading man wants to kiss a woman in a romantic comedy, if hes a good enough actor, people will suspend disbelief.
4. Dont overcompensate. Halls says the key to his client Neil Patrick Harriss successful coming-out was that hed never been one of those people who brought women to premieres and said he was straight.
5. Dont get caught. Better to make a decisive move than tentatively (or drunkenly) test the waters in hopes the decision will be made for you. (And in case it doesnt, it should go without saying: Dont get arrested!)
6. Make sure your publicist is savvy to community politics. Ten years ago publications like Out and our sister magazine The Advocate were destinations of choice for self-outing; today you could launch a bidding war between People and Oprah. When Johnny Mathis came out [in a 1982 Us Magazine article], black people screamed, Why didnt you tell us first? says Kevin Taylor, a longtime BET producer. So dont forget where you came from, or the people poised to be your biggest defenders.
The idea of making a similar list a year ago would have been laughable, so its impossiblebut strangely encouragingto imagine what kind of career move will be considered common sense at this time in 2008. Its just not somewhere weve ever gone before, Halls says.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
38 Male Celebs Who Did Full Frontal Scenes
November 17 2023 5:18 PM
These are all the celebrities Who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2023
December 31 2023 12:19 PM
These Pics Prove Maluma Has Always Been a Certified Daddy
October 20 2023 1:13 PM
32 LGBTQ+ Celebs You Can Follow on OnlyFans
October 25 2023 3:15 PM
26 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
February 28 2024 1:50 PM
16 Times Celebrity Men Had to Say They Weren't Gay
February 29 2024 1:19 PM
15 Unforgettable Gay Kissing Scenes From TV & Movies
February 14 2024 10:20 AM
13 Queens Who Quit or Retired From Drag After 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
November 24 2023 10:11 AM
40 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
January 04 2024 10:54 AM
The 15 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of 2023
December 04 2023 10:32 AM
Watch Now: Advocate Channel
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Trending Stories & News
For more news and videos on advocatechannel.com, click here.
Latest Stories
Meet the reality TV baddies competing on 'House of Villains' season 2
March 27 2024 3:48 PM
Meet Kristen Kish, the new out host of 'Top Chef'
March 27 2024 3:36 PM
24 albums that turn 10 years old in 2024
March 27 2024 2:43 PM
Breaking boundaries in gender-free fashion with Stuzo Clothing
March 27 2024 2:15 PM
Meet Phillip Davis, Johnny Sibilly's new BF who he just hard-launched
March 27 2024 12:49 PM
Meet Ricky & Cesar, 'Amazing Race 36's loveable gay underdog couple
March 27 2024 12:09 PM
March 27, 2024
March 27 2024 12:07 PM
Yvonne & Melissa weren't 'U-Haul lesbians' before 'Amazing Race 36'
March 27 2024 11:38 AM
Iconic comedy 'John Tucker Must Die' is getting a sequel, making Millennial gays very happy
March 27 2024 10:50 AM
'Barbie' star Hari Nef is starring in a biopic about this trans legend
March 26 2024 7:02 PM