http://www.newsweek.com/id/236999

I heard a debate about this on the CBC, earlier. One side claimed that Ramin Setoodeh was saying gay actors cannot play straight actors, or at least that their sexuality inhibits their performance. The other side said that Setoodeh was merely saying that those particular gay actors appeared gay in their roles, and thus did not perform them as well as they could be performed; that their homosexuality was showing. He claimed that this may have been a result of going into their performances aware of their sexuality, and that in an ideal world you would go in a blank slate, but you can't pretend the prejudice isn't there, when you know they're gay. Attention was also drawn to the opinion that there is a double standard for gay actors in Hollywood. They quoted Collin Firth saying "If you're known as a straight guy, playing a gay role, you get rewarded for that, if you're a gay man and you want to play a straight role, you don't get cast."
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Myself, I think a distinction needs to be drawn between people who are gay, and people who appear "gay." I've known a few gay people who don't act any differently than anyone else, and I know a few straight people who act like stereotypical gay people. In my eyes, wearing tight clothes and speaking with a lisp does not equal homosexuality.

I also think, though, that this does touch on a deeper issue than one man's homophobia. Ramin Setoodeh himself has also tried to push the issue beyond his own personal views, and to the idea that gay men and women are disadvantaged in acting careers. He commented that while many gay actors have played straight roles without any issue, most of the time, it wasn't known that they were openly gay at the time; that perhaps the only reason Jonathan Groff in Glee seemed gay is because Setoodeh knew he was, going in. That I can kind of hear... I've definitely heard of the straight guys in Brokeback Mountain being praised for their playing gays (Not that I necessarily agree with that), but if I heard a gay man being praised for his performance as a straight guy, it would sound homophobic, to me.

Regardless, I have trouble getting over how disgusting I find it that Setoodeh claims their sexuality inhibits their performance - it doesn't matter if he's saying they act gay or he can't ignore that they're gay, to me. I don't think an actor's sexuality need be a part of the role they play, and I don't think gay people are necessarily any different from straight people in normal life. So even if he is saying that you can't ignore that they're gay, and that they do have to overcome that in their role, I don't think there's anything to overcome.

Neil Patrick Harris, Ian McKellen, David Hyde Peirce, and Dick Sargent all came out of the closet after they became famous. Cesar Romero never officially came out, as far as I can tell, and while it wasn't a secret in Hollywood, it was to the general public. Matt Bomer hasn't denied or confirmed his sexuality. I think all of those examples go hand in hand with (Though don't necessarily prove) what Ramin Setoodeh was saying.

If I'd thought this was just someone saying "You can spot gays a mile away" or whatever, I'd think this was dumb and didn't warrant discussion, but I don't think that's what it is. In my opinion, it just draws to light a struggle gay people face. Ramin Setoodeh is showing the problem by example, but nonetheless, he is showing that prejudices such as these are prevelant and do exist. You came up with a list of actors who got famous and then revealed they were gay, which shows that gay people can play convincing straight people perfectly well. Of course they can. That shouldn't need to be proven.

The issue here is the challenge gay people face in the industry. Like that quote I had in the first post, "If you're known as a straight guy, playing a gay role, you get rewarded for that, if you're a gay man and you want to play a straight role, you don't get cast." Obviously once you have a solid career under your belt, people won't turn you away because of your sexuality, but articles like this show that if it gets out that you're gay first, some critics will go into your performance with that in mind. Ramin Setoodeh was watching the performance viewing Jonathon Groff or whoever else as a gay guy, so of course he'd have trouble playing a convincing straight guy, in that situation. Setoodeh is being homophobic here, and I'm not defending him, but it shows that there can be that challenge against gay people who aren't already well-known actors.

All I meant by it affecting the ones who are already famous is that it wouldn't inhibit their abilities to get work. Regardless of what you think of his acting, if you turn away Neil Patrick Harris or someone like that, as far as the business end goes, you're a dumbass. Neil Patrick Harris, when he came out, didn't have to worry about being able to find work. I don't think that holds nearly as true for someone whose name means nothing.