Which straight actor really "played gay" well?

.....

Big Willy Style.

Adam Scott who has played gay a few times and doesn't seem to make a big deal of it.

Campbell Scott always seemed to play gay well, he seemed to approach the humanity and not the stereotype.

Jake and Heath, "Bareback Mountain"

Sean Penn, "Milk"

Colin Firth, "A Single Man" (this was just heartbreaking to me)

My favorite: Russell Crowe, "The Sum Of Us"

I agree with most of these. Cliff Gorman's Emory is so over-the-top swishy it's laughable, but he fully commits to the character. It doesn't feel like a straight guy commenting on the character.

It's disappointing when you see a gifted actor play gay only to resort to stereotypes/tricks. I can't even remember the project, but Bradley Whitford played a gay character recently that was just short of a hate crime. Really awful. The less said about (the presumably straight) Peter Saarsgard in THE DYING GAUL, the better (okay: he and the film were terrible).

And count me among the number who mostly hated THE BROKEN HEARTS CLUB, particularly Timothy Olyphant's lead character, who alternates between frat-bro and mincing fairy. John Mahoney (gay IRL) almost single-handedly redeems the movie.

On the plus side, GO features Jay Mohr and Scott Wolf as a gay couple, and they're surprisingly funny and believable together.

Ted Danson on TAXI played a flamboyant hairdresser. He was over the top and hilarious. The CHEERS producers took notice and it put him in the running for Sam Malone.

John Michael Higgins in "Best In Show".

Campbell Scott really was wonderful in LONGTIME COMPANION, as were Bruce Davison, Dermot Mulroney, and a number of other actors, gay and straight.

I agree, R9 - I should watch it again. Can't face any of those AIDS movies yet.

Longtime Companion completely ripped off The Inheritance!

Matthew Rhys on Brothers & Sisters.

I really like the guy who plays James on Hollyoaks, he totally looks like he’s having a great time playing him and then when his wife is on the show as the police officer it looks like they are secretly sharing the best inside joke ever.

Tom Hardy as Handsome Bob in "RockNrolla," and again (in a dual role) as the craziest of the cray-cray Kray Twins in "Legend."

I remember a movie about the Kray twins, but not him at all, in fact I thought they were played by real twins?

Jake and Heath were lovers. I don't know how bi Heath was. Maybe it was a one off. Jake has to be bi leaning to gay.

Michael Douglas as Liberace.

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia. Even better than he did in Capote.

Nice Jonas. I forget the exact role.

[quote]I remember a movie about the Kray twins, but not him at all, in fact I thought they were played by real twins?

Yes, played by those 80s pop stars...the Kemp brothers (not twins in real life) I thought they and the film were very good. Others were more critical.

& they handled "the gay" in this movie, well.

Gary Oldman who played the promiscuous '60s playwright Joe Orton really wins the Oscar for gay performances, in Prick Up Yor Ears (1987) - followed closely by his co-star Alfred Molina.

Malcolm Gets in Caroline in the City.

(wait, is this the right thread?)

R18 Philip even more so in Boogie Nights, such an unattractive, unflattering portrayal, but yet so real -been there, lived that performance.

I Love You Philip Morris - BOTH of them.

R23 Oh man, I fucked up! That's what I meant! lol Thank you.

[quote]as the craziest of the cray-cray Kray Twins

CRAZIER, not craziest.

Jeffrey Wright in "Angels in America"

For goodness sake! DL fave Scuddder.

Tobias Santelmann, Borderliner (Grenseland)

Paul Verhoeven in The Fourth Man

Miss Van Hansis

Another vote for Alfred Molina, this time with John Lithgow in "Love is Strange".

[Quote] Paul Verhoeven in The Fourth Man

Jeroen Krabbé. Verhoeven directed.

I actually don't think Heath and Jake had a ton of chemistry in BBM

Darren Criss is natural playing gay, people don't even buy that he is actually straight.

I also think Finn Wittrock has very natural chemistry with men whenever he has played gay.

I was actually surprised to learn that Jeffrey Wright is straight. He is--married/divorced with kids.

He's an excellent actor, and his Belize in ANGELS IN AMERICA is a remarkable performance. He doesn't hold back on the character's flamboyance (or bitchiness) but he never descends into stereotype. Belize is a secondary character but a dynamic opposing force in his scenes with Louis or Roy Cohn. And he always retains his dignity.

Now that's acting.

William Hurt in Kiss of the Spiderwoman.

He was awful, R36 and he played a tranny not a gay guy.

I must agree re: Hurt. It is not a good or believable performance, and I felt like I was watching Hurt congratulate himself for his bravery even while he was acting.

KOTSW is an interesting movie, but it never became a real classic and it's rarely seen these days.

[quote]KOTSW

What on earth is that? Americans talk in letters and it often baffles me.

Belize is a credit to his race.

KOTSW = Kiss of the Spider Woman, R39. The movie that was just being discussed (re: William Hurt).

Gary Oldman is bisexual, not straight.

The Alec Scudder character reads as a horny anything-that-moves omnisexual: opportunistic enough to be fucking the local barmaids and Maurice at the same time.

[quote]Gary Oldman is bisexual, not straight.

Never heard that one before.

John Hurt as Quentin Crisp in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 (1975).

Noah Reid as Patrick in Schitt’s Creek. His chemistry with Dan Levy was Incredible.

[quote]Jeroen Krabbé. Verhoeven directed.

Thank you.

Jeroen IS bisexual. He was talking about it on the radio. What I got from it was he either came out or it would come out sooner than later sort of thing. He was hawt in The Fourth Man - the younger guy was was obsessed with was not, I and my then gay friends agreed.

The downside of course is that if they hit the trifecta of being good-looking, convincing and partnered in the movie/TV show with an equally good looking and convincing partner, they will be the target of batshit crazy fan frauen on Datalounge for years to come.

[quote]I and my then gay friends agreed.

Are they not gay anymore?

It was the '80s. They're dead.

I’ll probably get flamed for this, but Eric Stonestreet nails all the subtle mannerisms (and, of course, the stereotypical ones too), but I’m not convinced he’s straight.

*hugging r10*

Go ahead. MARY!!! me, see if I care.

CS

Josh O'Connor in God's Own Country.... a northern Brit guy, not out, but played realistically.

I remember being impressed with Jeff Daniels' brief appearance in The Hours, but I haven't watched it in years.

R53 O’Connor’s character in God’s Own Country wasn’t closeted, he was an immature, alcoholic mess. The issues his family had with him wasn’t because he’s gay.

Chandler Massey is a pussyhound.

Michael Sheen in Fabulosa

You must be young, R43, the rumor that he was bi was everywhere in the 1990s.

Freddie Smith (Days) eats Alyssa’s pussy out at least twice a day!

r55 An alcoholic mess.... but he certainly was "out".... the people whispering about him in the pub, his discomfort... his keeping his secrets close to the vest...

His love for the guy forcing to re-evaluate how he lived... ultimately taking a chance by tracking him down and being open and direct about his love

^^ wasn't out

I hate many of these because a lot of the actors went out of their way to show they're not gay. "It's like playing a criminal ... like a rapist, I'm not really a bad guy". 🤢 🤮

Oh, c'mon!! Christopher Meloni in Oz!!

Thread Closed.

I thought Al Corley was really great and ahead of his time on Dynasty.

R46 Come on, he played Barbra's jerk husband in TPOT. How that couple came out with the Jewy Jason Gould I have no idea.

But then again, Nick Nolte kept calling Barb "pretty" throughout the whole film...yeah right?

Al Corley was a landmark in TV portrayals.

I know this is about male actors, but Lilli Taylor as Valerie Solanas was excellent. Stephen Dorff gave his all as Candy Darling but simply didn't have Candy's fey allure.

Another vote for Matthew Rhys in Brothers and Sisters. He played gay, but wasn't even remotely a stereotype. Wasn't too queeny or too manly. But wasn't afraid to go to either corner either. It just felt like he was akin to most of my gay friends.

R65 Surprisingly, I thought Jason gave the best performance in the film.

Patrick Stewart - Nailed the Kaftan and Earrings thing.

Seymour Hoffman in "Flawless".

gifs don't work anymore, do they?

william hurt, kiss of the spider woman, and also fifth of july

Paul Rudd in Object of My Affection.

The worst: Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody. Straight-up minstrel show.

I find both Rudd and Malek very sexually ambiguous, on a par with Gyllenhaal and Pattinson. And no, that's not wishful thinking, as I don't find any of them particularly attractive.

Antonio Banderas in Law of Desire

and banderas again for "pain and glory"

Max from Happy Endings.

Pally was one of the funniest things in that underappreciated show, but no, I wouldn't put him in my pantheon. The character was really poorly conceived: look! a gay guy who's an unfashionable, lazy bro-slob! Pally made the most of it, but the role was paper-thin to start with.

And another vote for Chris Meloni and (his fellow heterosexually identifying) Lee Tergesen on OZ. Incredible erotic chemistry and affection together onscreen. I remember finding some of their scenes together much hotter than, say, QUEER AS FOLK.

I almost wonder if Philip Seymour Hoffman was not at least bi. He played gay so well. In case anyone saw him with the full caftan and earrings in "Flawless" with De Niro, there was a scene where De Niro makes homophobic comments and Hoffman comes back at him with "Nazi!"and, when De Niro responds with yet another homophobic slur, Hoffman does the limp wrist and hisses "Republican!". Well, my dad claims to have seen him on a flight to London once and said "Republican!" and Hoffman just laughed.

Hoffman also played his character in The Talented Mr. Ripley rather fey. I always assumed he was in love with Dickie himself and that's why he figured out Tom Ripley right away.

R77 I forgot how much I loved that show! And Pally was a scene stealer for sure.

Guy Pearce, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT.

Bobby Cannavale

Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls