Ramin Setoodeh, the author of this summer's controversial Newsweek article arguing that gay actors can't effectively play straight, recently wrote a new piece, "How Hollywood Shuts Out Gay Actors" about Hollywood and homophobia. We think you'll like it a bit more. Here's an interesting tidbit:
It’s not just that audiences don’t often see openly gay actors in straight roles. What’s even more unsettling is that Hollywood doesn’t even allow gay actors to play gay. With the film industry swept up in the congratulatory swirl of awards season, not a single openly gay actor is up for an Oscar nomination. Of course, that’s probably because no openly gay actors even starred in any big films of 2010. The lovable lesbian wives in The Kids Are All Right were played by the heterosexual actresses Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. The quirky couple in I Love You Phillip Morris were portrayed by straight men Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.And the clincher:
In Promises, Promises, Hayes was an effusive entertainer. He gamely engaged in slapstick comedy, including a gag with a fruitcake in his living room. But the musical didn’t work, not because of the singing or dancing, but because he and Kristin Chenoweth weren’t convincing as a couple. You know what Promises, Promises really needed? Something that would have revived this worn-out revival—a leading man for Sean Hayes.Read the entire article here. You can also watch Setoodeh and publicist Howard Bragman talk about this on Joy Behar: