Anyone know whether the actors who played Timothy and Jonathon are gay in real life? I know, I know, just because someone acts in a certain role doesn't mean that they possess similar qualities. And I know that, in the end, their sexuality "doesn't matter." All that good stuff.
But I'm just curious. Can anyone shed some light?
Tanner Cohen is gay. I don't know about Jonathan. Tanner's given a few interviews where is discussed it--check out afterelton.com for one of them.
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Oh, but it really DOES seem to matter to the people who ask the question, doesn't it.
If a male actor plays a gay role, someone always feels compelled to ask about his sexuality.
But how often does anyone ask about the sexuality of a male actor who plays a straight role?
Do they believe straight roles are always played by straight actors?
Do they believe playing straight is too difficult for gay actors,
but playing gay is so easy for straight actors that the audience can be fooled?
But how often does anyone ask about the sexuality of a male actor who plays a straight role? Do they believe straight roles are always played by straight actors?
Inquiries definitely happen. People question Hugh Jackman's sexuality all the time, and off the top of my head I can't think of a gay role he's played. And what about Kevin Spacey? Jodie Foster? Queen Latifah? Vin Diesel? Elijah Wood? Orlando Bloom? John Travolta? Tom Cruise? Keanu Reeves? James Dean? Marlon Brando? Even Anderson Cooper... not a movie actor, obviously, but definitely an actor in the sense that he must publicly perform within the confines of a certain image.
Bottom line: if you listen to the rumor mill long enough, pretty much EVERYONE -- single, married, engaged, divorced, partnered, dead -- has been rumored to be bi/gay at some point. Actors who have only played "straight roles" are no exception. And yes, if an actor plays a gay role, people are especially compelled to question his/her sexuality because (unfortunately) it's a breach of society's hetero-normativity and often given a second glance. But as I said, *everyone* is subject to gossip.
Do they believe playing straight is too difficult for gay actors,
but playing gay is so easy for straight actors that the audience can be fooled?
I don't think people believe that "playing straight" is too difficult for gay actors. Ask any closeted gay person. I played a straight role for almost 20 years, and for some I STILL play that role. Was it "too difficult"? No, because I had everybody fooled.
In any case, I saw the movie, got a little curious, and asked a question. I'm sorry it rubbed you the wrong way.
Hugh Jackman played gay in "The Boy From Oz". Queen Latifah did in "Set It Off". Tom Cruise played bisexual in "Interview With the Vampire". Kevin Spacey's character seemed bi-curious in "American Beauty". Marlon Brando openly spoke of his bisexuality in his autobiography. Jodie Foster has lived and raised children with a woman for 15 years. And Anderson Cooper was openly gay until he was hired at CNN and recloseted himself. Only the last three matters towards real life, but just answering your questions.
Straight people just don't understand our desire to know if someone else is gay. They react as if we're talking *beep* about them, or we're tramping on their privacy or something. We're just proud of our people, and have a bottomless hunger for there to be more, more, more... born of being marginalized. And Tanner is gay. He did tell OUT and AfterEltcon. Funny how people come flying to the defense of the poor actor who's sexuality has been questioned because a role, while the so-called defenders themselves know little about him, too... such as he doesn't want to be "protected".
jenrobbins is a very interesting case, btw. Her message board history shows that half of her posts have been speculating that actors are gay. And here she is reading you the riot act for asking this question. Shame on you, Jen.
Hugh Jackman played gay in "The Boy From Oz". Queen Latifah did in "Set It Off".
Haven't seen these. Such a hottie, that Jack Man.
Tom Cruise played bisexual in "Interview With the Vampire".
I thought that was just wishful thinking on my part. I wonder if that role
prompted widespread speculations about his sexuality?
Kevin Spacey's character seemed bi-curious in "American Beauty".
I didn't read that into his character. More wishful thinking on my part?
Marlon Brando openly spoke of his bisexuality in his autobiography. Jodie Foster has lived and raised children with a woman for 15 years.
Yep.
And Anderson Cooper was openly gay until he was hired at CNN and recloseted himself.
Hmmm.
Straight people just don't understand our desire to know if someone else is gay. They react as if we're talking *beep* about them, or we're tramping on their privacy or something. We're just proud of our people, and have a bottomless hunger for there to be more, more, more... born of being marginalized. And Tanner is gay. He did tell OUT and AfterEltcon. Funny how people come flying to the defense of the poor actor who's sexuality has been questioned because a role, while the so-called defenders themselves know little about him, too... such as he doesn't want to be "protected".
I do understand why gay people want to know if someone's gay. However, I suspect (and I could be mistaken) that most of the people asking if an actor is gay after seeing him play a gay role are themselves straight (esp. straight women). Be that as it may. More often than not, it turns out that the actors playing gay roles are straight, or so they say.
Haven't seen the movie yet. Just learned about it from LOGO and popped into IMBD to learn more about it. Don't know anything about the actors. Wasn't coming to anyone's defense.
jenrobbins is a very interesting case, btw. Her message board history shows that half of her posts have been speculating that actors are gay. And here she is reading you the riot act for asking this question. Shame on you, Jen.
You've grossly mischaracterized my posting history. Not once was I the one asking if the actor was gay. I was only criticizing or disputing other people's baseless speculations, not indulging them.
You've also grossly mischaracterized my gender, and, perhaps, my sexual orientation. I'm actually a gay guy. :)
I've recently updated my IMDB ID to something more, shall we say, gender neutral?
And of course I want to know if so and so is gay! But I'd prefer it be a gay person who asks the question!
Well, "Jen" kind of mislead me on your gender. And the fact that it's usually straights who go around "defending" actors against gay questions, because they think the actor they like is being insulted. But I did look at your old posts, and you're always going along with the question, until now you're not lecturing someone for asking it. If you want to know, I don't know why you'd try to make someone feel bad for wanting to know, when their reason is not stated.
shareWell, "AvatarMN", you stated as a fact that "half" my posts "have been speculating that actors are gay". In fact, not even one of my posts has made any such speculation. But I see you have now retreated from that bold allegation to the more vague "you're always going along with the question." Surely, replying to ANY question is "going along with the question." And since many of the posts in these forums are replies to questions, it seem that "going along with the question" is very common.
Straight people often presume that a gay role must be played by a gay actor. Do they think only a gay person would dare play such a role? Or do they think only a gay person could convincingly play a gay role? When an actor plays a straight romantic lead, no one asks "is he straight", even though many such straight roles have been convincingly played by gays. Rock Hudson is an well-known example.
And of course I want to know if so and so is gay! But I'd prefer it be a gay person who asks the question!
...but I am a gay guy.
Hugh Jackman played gay in "The Boy From Oz".
Why can I not find this here at IMDb ????
I'M NOT CRAZY...I'M JUST A LITTLE UNWELL
You can't find "The Boy From Oz" on IMDb because it was a Broadway musical, not a film. Based on the life of Peter Allen. Hugh Jackman was marvelous in the role, and audiences flocked to see him. You can buy the original cast album from Amazon or other etailers.
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Zaphod's just zis guy, you know?
I'm straight and tend to seek information about whether a particular actor is gay after they play a gay role. In fact, I opened this thread because I wondered if the leads in this were gay.
I think my interest in this is hope that they ARE gay. Honestly, I think I do this for two reasons. 1. The leads usually have such great chemistry (i.e. - Gale Harold and Randy Harrison<3) that I kind of want them to be gay and in love in real life. It's incredibly juvenile and absurd, but when I enjoy a love story it makes it 7,000 times better for me if the actors actually fall in love in real life. 2. You have to be blind to not recognize the difficulties that all gay people (but specifically YOUNG gay people) have gone through forever and even more so in the past couple of years. A large portion of our society is still bigoted and closed minded. Having people in the public eye who are openly gay (possibly even more so if they're straight and play a gay role so well) allows that actor to serve as a role model. I find myself hoping that they are gay so maybe one young kid will feel less alone.
When I was a teenager there were a lot of personal issues that I had an incredibly hard time dealing with until I came across people in the public eye and a few books that changed my life. It helped me realize that there was light on the other side and some day it would all be better. I think people like Ellen Degeneres who steal the hearts of everyone in America are making positive change in the battle for equality. She goes on her show, makes millions of people smile, and doesn't have to avoid words like "my wife" to accomplish that. It's uplifting for me.
I think that you nailed my view on it as well when you said, "We're proud of our people, and have a bottomless hunger for there to be more, more, more...". I agree with you 100% because I dream of the next generation living in a world where they can unashamedly be whoever they are and love whoever they want. And I want that for all of the gay people I know and love now who are tormented for the dumbest of reasons. These two actors being gay wouldn't guarantee that or anything, but it certainly wouldn't hurt either.
Yes, it does seem to matter, but not for the reasons you insinuate.
The reason is simple, gay guys like to solidify their fantasies by affirming the actor they just fell in love with is actually "on their side".
"In interviews, director Tom Gustafson has said how important it was to him to cast gay actors in gay roles to combat the 'Hollywood closet'. As such, he has said, in an interview (viewable on Youtube) at the Tokyo Gay and Lesbian Film Festival that the two lead actors Tanner Cohen and Nathaniel David Becker are gay." - taken from the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Were_the_World_Mine
Youtube link to the panel at the Tokyo international GLBT film festival where he gives the interview:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=DN9wsedE1BM
oh wow! both cuties are gay. thats wonderful.
i too, a gay guy, like the gay playing actors to be gay in real life. its just a nice thought that they are around and a bit of their character is taken from real life for them....
and also credit to actual straight actors who play gays in a believable way...
somehow, for gays, it's fun to discuss/fantasize certain actors who are attractive are actually gay.
if it turns out 'not', so problem!
i can understand the/most straight women would prefer him to be straight.
and there will always be some untrue speculations about most celebrities...thats how the world works...
it's just a pity that it seems nessesary for some others to come across as straight when they are actally gay/bi etc.
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Not expecting you to answer, but then why, in the DVD director's commentary on the closeup kissing scene of Tanner and Nathaniel, did Gustafson mention the scene being so difficult for the two actors? Of course, such a statement doesn't prove the actors' sexuality one way or the other. But why make such a comment if one or both actors are gay?
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Being gay does not mean that it's automatically easy to kiss any man who comes along. For many gay men (as for many other people) kissing is a very personal, intimate act, something you're not comfortable doing with a stranger of any sex, particularly in front of an audience. Since both of these actors were very young at the time, it's not surprising at all that kissing a man they'd only recently met might be difficult, even if both of them were gay. Whatever difficulty they had doing it may have been caused as much by age, inexperience or simple modesty as by sexual orientation. I've even heard several major heterosexual movie stars say how difficult love scenes always are, even when there are no conflicts at all regarding sexual orientation.
Besides, Tom Gustafson explained it when he made that comment. He said that the actors' nervousness was caused by their inexperience and by the tremendous pressure they felt to get the scene right; he did not mention any particular discomfort with the fact that the kiss was with another man.
Good catch. I'll have to rewatch the Commentary; I missed Gustafson's explanation at that point.
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Just about every gay kiss on film has been excoriated by some gay 'critics.' We're a tough lot to satisfy on that count. Interestingly, in the commentary to 'Shelter' one of the actors (Brad Rowe, I think) indicated that it was easier for a straight actor to let loose and get passionate kissing another straight man than kissing a woman (since in the latter case, there was the danger of going beyond acting). Same might hold for two gay guys.
"Nothing personal. Your name just happened to come up."
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@ the artist 2004 - thanks for letting me know. When I have questions about a film I often find the answer, or at least some interesting hypotheses, in the imdb comment sections and message boards. So I'm glad to be able to contribute now and then.
cheers! lb
"Nothing personal. Your name just happened to come up."
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I think that interview is a pretty vicous and unprofessional outing of Nathaniel David Becker, given he's said differently in other interviews.
Pretty disgraceful.
That quote from wiki is no longer there. If you watch the YouTube clip, he says it was important to him to cast gay actors in gay roles, and he is immediately interrupted by Cory James Krueckeberg. Tom Gustafson then clarifies that the two leads are gay, but he does not use names, nor did he say the two lead males.
shareIf you're talking about Romeo and Juliet, and say "the two leads", you are not referring the the Nurse and Soldier Number 3.
They're clearly the two leads. What the other gu was saying is "STFU! You're mid-outing! These guys might want serious roles in Hollywood".
Nathaniel David Becker is not a lead. He is listed seventh in the credits, which are not by order of appearance, nor alphabetical order. This is not saying anything negative about him, I liked him, and I hope he does more films.
shareSo if Nathaniel David Becker is gay... where can I find him and force him to marry me against his will?
shareNathaniel is 'straight'-
http://www.homo-neurotic.com/2008/06/17/tom-gustafsons-were-the-world- mine-closes-newfest-2008/#more-534
L'enfer, c'est les autres