Same sex partners are rocking Hollywood, both on and off the sets. Our favourites from the latest crop of gay personalities on film and TV.
Daddy Cool
One of the most lovable characters on ‘Modern Family’, Jesse Tyler Ferguson cut his teeth on Broadway productions. Moving on to the small screen, he was lauded for his role in ‘The Class’, a sitcom revolving around the lives of eight alumni from a fictional school. Ferguson and his ‘Modern Family’ costar Eric Stonestreet, who play daddies to an adopted Vietnamese girl baby, share a terrific camaraderie off-screen as well, and we suggest you check out the Writers Guild of America awards ceremony on February 5 on YouTube, which they will be co-hosting.
Love Him Tender
What happens when you put a classic funny man in a gay role? Our favourite, Jim Carrey, who played Steven Jay Russell, in the romance drama, ‘I Love You, Philip Morris’, essayed his role with surprising warmth. As one critic put it, “(His) comedic versatility and impersonations are amazing, but it’s in his character’s darkest recesses that he’s truly powerful.”
Shots at Fame
James Franco tasted fame early in his career with just his second film, ‘James Dean’, garnering a Golden Globe win. The 32-year-old actor has essayed several gay roles - a swimmer who hooks up with an older man in the 2002 indie film, ‘Blind Spot’, Harvey Milk’s boyfriend in the Oscar-nominated ‘Milk’, and as the gay American poet, Allen Ginsberg in ‘Howl’, which released in October. Despite speculation by the media, Franco refuses to comment on his sexual orientation.
Mom’s Alright
Julianne Moore, 49, who made her film debut relatively late by Hollywood standards, in her early 30s, soon made her presence felt in indie cinema. Think ‘Boogie Nights’, ‘The End of The Affair’, ‘The House’ and ‘Far From Heaven’. Her role as a lesbian mother in ‘The Kids Are All Right’, might just bag her an Oscar win. Incidentally, Moore is a longstanding supporter of same-sex marriages.
Happy Days
One of the youngest and boldest actors to come out of the closet, Chris Colfer is well-known for his outright gay character, Kurt Hummel, in the hit series ‘Glee’. A memorable moment on Glee, his rendition of ‘Defying Gravity’, was inspired by a real-life incident from when he was 15. Colfer said that when his school did not let him sing the song, his grandmother, a reverend, allowed him to sing it in church. The 20-year-old actor is clearly enjoying the ride. “I’ve gone from a theatre geek in high school to a theatre geek on national television,” he says.