In the olden days, it was always said agents told their clients never to play gay as it would cause rumours about their own sexuality which could effect their career.In fact I was once told by a Hollywood old hand that one of the best ways to tell which actors were gay in real life in the 90s was to look at who had never played a role in film with LGBT characters.
Now Tom Selleck has come along with a story that seems to contradict and yet support that idea at the same time, as he’s been talking to TV Guide about his decision to play a gay reporter in the 1997 movie In & Out, and how it affected rumours that he was gay himself.
Selleck says, “I was playing a closeted gay television reporter and a tabloid had said I was gay just a few years earlier.” As a result many had advised him against playing the role.
However he adds, “I said, ‘I’ve been trying to do ensemble comedy forever and this is one of the best ensembles I’ve ever seen.’ Because I had sued several tabloids for falsely saying I was gay, people were saying I was anti-gay. Playing the role ended both those rumors.”
In & Out stars Kevin Kline as a teacher who is ‘outed’ when a former student says he’s gay while accepting an Oscar. However Kline’s character isn’t actually gay – he just exhibits some stereotypically gay traits – but he has to deal with becoming a five-minute celebrity while negotiating both his own and other’s thoughts about his sexuality. Selleck’s character is perhaps best remembered for planting a kiss on Kevin.
You can take a look at that scene below.
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