James Marsden

Longer, though, is the list of actors who have played gay—and continue to play gay—on film... without complaint! While many argue that gay actors should be playing gay roles ( Harvey Feirstein famously said in an interview that straight actors playing gay feels a bit like blackface to him), the simple fact is there just aren’t that many A, B or even C list openly gay actors in Hollywood these days. So when flicks go into production, obviously it’s straight Hollywood jumping on for the ride.  

And, when we’re lucky, the performance turns out to be something wonderful.  

We’ve narrowed down a few of our favorites—I’m sure we missed some, and if we did I’m sure you’ll let us hear about it. But, for now, I think we’ve got a pretty good list going… I mean, really, any list with James Marsden, Paul Rudd and Heath Ledger has got to be good, right?  

James Marsden – Heights / The 24th Day  

Why is James Marsden first? He’s certainly hot, but that’s not it. He’s done great work, but not the best on this countdown. No, James Marsden is on this countdown because he’s played gay twice—and while Hollywood is practically begging the classically beautiful James to become an A-list megastar, he seems far more interested in playing characters that speak to him, and there’s no doubt in my mind that directors didn’t even have to ask twice to get him to play gay in the psychological thriller/AIDS drama The 24th Day and the ensemble drama Heights.  

His is a very natural screen presence—he doesn’t shy away from the gay kiss, he’s emotionally invested in both characters, and even when he turns around and plays Cyclops, for a paycheck, in the X-Men movies, you’re all but guaranteed to know what he’d rather be doing. I truly apologize for this cheesy clip—apparently, the only person who’s ever seen and loved Heights enough to put a clip on You Tube also likes The Backstreet Boys.  

Tom Hanks – Philadelphia  

So maybe it’s depressing. Maybe it was the moment when gay men began to demand that we be portrayed as something other than the man who dies of AIDS on film. No matter what your complaint, looking back, Philadelphia might just be Tom Hanks’ finest work… and in a career that includes many, many brilliant performances, that’s quite an accomplishment. His connection with a then new to English language film Antonio Banderas is evident… even if they don’t “get it on”, as some gay critics complained. The depiction of Hanks’ character, Andrew Beckett, is superb. And while some complain the film arrived too late, it’s as accurate a portrayal of the devastation of AIDS as you can find on film, with a passionate team behind the camera to match.  

Paul Rudd – The Object of My Affection  

My friends and I always talk about the time we fell in love with Paul Rudd—for most of us, it was Clueless, but the truth is I fall in love with Paul all over again every time I see him on screen—and I’ve never been more in love with him than in The Object of My Affection. Hell, he’s so damn loveable in that movie, he even made me love Jennifer Aniston... a feat, if I may be so bold. The movie can be a bit trite—it’s Will & Grace taken way too far—but when it calms down, it its root, its an unconventional love story between a gay man and a straight woman… and how many of us can relate to those?  

Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain  

I know Jake Gyllenhaal emerged as the total hunk from Brokeback Mountain while Heath Ledger went off and had a baby with (and has since separated from) his female co-star, but if you go back and watch Brokeback again, you’ll see that good as Jake is, Heath’s performance is the revelation. Jake’s Jack Twist may more fully embrace his homosexuality, but Heath portrayal of Ennis, a man tortured between his love for Jack and his obligation to lead a “normal” life would have been a lock for an Oscar most years. Frankly, I think it should have been a lock for an Oscar that year, but voters had other ideas. I fell in love with Heath Ledger, the actor, in Brokeback Mountain… just look at the lust in his eyes as he runs toward Jack.  

Clive Owen – Bent  

It’s hard to believe that one of the most powerful gay love stories ever told on film takes place within the confines of a Concentration Camp, but it does… and behind those walls, something amazing happens. Clive Owen (as Max, picked up for being gay—the only crime worse in Nazi Germany than being a Jew) shows audiences that love is the most powerful emotion of all—it doesn’t matter if you love men, love women, love both… love is love. It’s that emotional wallop that makes Bent as tough to watch as it is important, and the love Max finds as death looms in the distance teaches the very important lesson that life is short… every moment matters.

Guy Pearce – The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert  

The world had not yet heard of Guy Pearce, who would go on to deliver brilliant performance after brilliant performance stateside throughout much of the late ’90s. But here, in this low budget Aussie drag queen film, he became a star—decked out in half shirts, fluorescent wigs, glitter galore and at panty hoes. In fact, it’s probably the best drag performance ever captured on film (no disrespect to Gene Hackman in The Birdcage)—so genuine, so honest, and more than a decade later, so damn funny. Click here for a quickie—one of his finest lines!  

Russell Crowe – The Sum of Us  

I suppose it’s not as great a risk to your career to play gay early in your career—although, I’d imagine playing gay couldn’t possibly do as much damage as, say, hitting someone in the head with a telephone. But long before he was Russell Crowe, Oscar winner for Gladiator, Crowe did a little indie film that cast him as Jeff, a 20-something single gay man who, while his father searches for Ms. Right, is searching for Mr. Right. Crowe’s connection with Jack Thompson, one of Australia’s most beloved actors, is one of the best pairing’s on film, and while the movie is not well known outside of Australia, it deserves an audience… particularly among the gay community.