Gender Benders: 15 Actors Who Play Gay But Really Are Straight or Vice Versa (Are Their Roles Believable?)

» By StyleBlazer June 19, 2012, 14:45pm

Of course there’s no cookie cutter profile of a hetero or homosexual, so celebs are often cast into a role regardless of their real-life orientation. After all, it is called acting. Here we take a look at eight actors who have played gay characters but are really straight and vice versa. Check it out…

1. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia

 

In probably one of the most notable “straight playing gay” roles, Hanks expertly played Andrew Beckett in this Academy Award winning role. Tom even lost 30 pounds and thinned his hair out to portray the gay lawyer dying of AIDS who sues his firm for discrimination.

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Comments

  • random

    eric stonestreet from modern family and jesse tyler ferguson from the same show

  • Diva

    Cynthia Nicks was in relationships with men for a majority of her life. Her wife is actually the first woman she has been with. So I don’t really think it’s a stretch for her to play Miranda.

    • pepjrp

      Her pretend wife in actuality.

      • Me

        just like you pretend to be a human

        • pepjrp

          And you’re pretending to not be a little sick.

  • Shay

    David Hyde Pierce (Niles) from Frasier. He’s been with his partner for 20+ years & I had no clue.

    • Shay

      I guess I was blind cuz I didn’t know.

    • HCPear

      you didn’t ?!!

    • http://twitter.com/MadameGigglez Sailor Moon

      He is??? Wow i would have never guessed…

    • MJRinPA

      I thought that all of the men on that show were gay, they just didn’t say so out lod.

      • http://www.facebook.com/PiercedAddict Andrea Leigh

        kelsey grammar is very…..confused. dresses in drag a lot in private

    • Mar

      Really? He acts as gay and a stereotype, especially on Frasier.

      • http://www.facebook.com/PiercedAddict Andrea Leigh

        yes he definitely does. i dont care for his character. i think hes annoying

    • http://www.facebook.com/PiercedAddict Andrea Leigh

      really? how do you not kno that? hes obvious on the show

  • dennice

    i just had to see your comment to realize he was straight in real life

    • sheane

      Who’s straight?

  • Cathy

    Nelson Ellis on True Blood.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DMZ6IXSUWNZC6BVRCWSXJ7H2MI Felicia

      Yesss!! Love LaFayette. He’s the only male character I know that wears makeup, jersey dresses AND can throw hands!

    • OneSpiritEternal

      Absolutely! He is SUCH an amazing actor!

    • ladymissdiva

      Yeah, how did Nelson get left off this list?

    • Will

      Did you not look through the article? Nelson is number 7.

    • MissSnowWhite

      Nelson Ellis plays the role of Lafayette so well. Lafayette is such a strong character on the show. If they ever kill him off I will not watch the show anymore.

  • TraceFace

    All the other men in To Wong Foo: Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, were good too.

  • Oren

    And Neil told Oprah he had trouble bonding with his paid for family? Gee, I wonder why. I’m concerned for the children, big time.

    • cairokid

      Don’t b concerned about THEIR kids!
      U have any? Be concerned about them!

    • polly hanaha

      Not bonding with a child is not all that uncommon. Some parents (mom & dad) are so emotionally traumatized by the experience of birthing a child that it takes a few days to recover. Then the bonding can begin.

  • DRKellogg

    They’re not adopted! They are the biological children of both men in the relationship. Also, if you watched the show, he had trouble bonding when they were newborns. That’s not uncommon at all.

    • Betsy S

      They’re twins . One is biologically related to each man, and they share a surrogate mother. So biologically they are half-siblings.

      • polly hanaha

        Wow! That’s amazing! Where science is taking us is going to be an interesting place.

      • misspink

        They’re not twins. In order to be twins they’d have to have the same mother and father. they are half siblings who share the same birthday.

        • kris

          You might want to look up the definition of twin – A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. These two are both half siblings and fraternal twins.

    • Rebekah Maccaby Maccaby

      The biological children of both men? You mean of each man? as in, one of each? in that case, each one may have adopted the other’s biological child. If they are the biological children of BOTH men, I think that would have been all over the news.

  • Anony

    I thought the same thing!

  • http://www.facebook.com/patricia.glanzman Patricia Sue Glanzman

    They forgot Darren Criss who plays Blaine on Glee. He does a abosultley perfect job of playing a guy madly in love with Kurt!

    • Darren

      Why does everyone think Darren Criss is straight? He’s not.

      • nugget

        He’s had a girlfriend, Mia swier, for ages; he’s talked about his orientation openly in multiple interviews; he’s expressed countless times that if he were gay he would have absolutely no problem acknowledging it; and one of his most often-made points is that as a straight person he feels honored to play such a potentially important role to the LGBTQ community. That’s why.

  • Dave

    Ah, Noxeema Jackson, Jesse’s Daughter… You know, you have to give credit to all the actors in Too Wong Foo…, each one of them pulled it off with spectacular style and grace. RIP Ms. Vida Bohemme (Patrick Swayze)

    • greycat1

      They did indeed. Of the Three: Snipes, Leguizamo and Swayze, Patrick was the only one I thought had a chance of pulling it off. The three of them blew my mind. It is one of my all-time favorite movies.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tom-Wray/1467694829 Tom Wray

        I knew Leguizamo would do well. I’d seen some of his one-man shows where he did drag so well I started thinking of him as a woman. I was wonderfully surprised at the other two. And even my mom liked the movie, but she wasn’t crazy about Swayze. She said he looked better in a dress than she did. :)

      • http://www.facebook.com/ndostal Norman Dostal

        Snipes didn’t work at all-no drag queen has arms like that…

        • King Fred

          LOL! You haven’t met enough drag queens then, Norman. Oh yes sir, there definitely ARE plenty o’ drag queens with arms like that. Part of the “messing” with expected gender roles that goes into being a drag queen (for a fair number of them anyway). Its not simply about trying to pass as a woman, it’s screwing with societal expectations. And a big macho dude in full makeup, wig and costume does that quite definitely.

          • http://www.facebook.com/ndostal Norman Dostal

            met quite a few drag queens in los angeles-most are fat and chunky. Drag queens on Rupaul are usually slim with some chunkies. I have NEVER seen a buffed out drag queen-a REAL one anyway- and Ive seen dozens of drag shows. dressing in drag does not make someone a drag queen by the way-What city you in that has the queens with big arms?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1467584154 Jenilynn Witko Herb

      if you have netflix, search for “Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”…it’s got Guy Pierce, Hugo Weaving, and Terrence Stamp from 1994. Came out prior to “To Wong Foo…” and IMHO, was a bit better between the costumes and premise of the film. I will say tho, Priscilla was much more “Aussie”, while 2 Wong Foo was more “American.”

  • ga gal

    Michael C. Hall is straight but played a great role in “Six Feet Under” as David Fisher.

  • http://twitter.com/ImekaSF Akemi

    You missed Ewan McGregor. (“Velvet Goldmine”, “The Pillow Book”, & “I Love You Phillip Morris”)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mikyla-Abigor/100001191298755 Mikyla Abigor

    Which character does Jonathan Groff play?

    • http://twitter.com/easter_cat Easter Cat

      Groff played Jesse, Rachel’s ex-boyfriend that was a member of Vocal Adrenaline and is now the coach of VA.

      • sheane

        Yea. Supposedly he’s dating Matt Bomer.

        • http://www.facebook.com/staceyelsburymccullough Stacey Elsbury McCullough

          Matt Boomer is not dating Jesse Groff…wow I hope that was supposed to be a sarcastic comment :)

        • Katie

          No, not Matt Bomer. Jonathan Groff is rumored to be dating Zachary Quinto.

    • anonymous

      I’m always baffled by people who asks questions like this when they’re using a computer. Can’t you just look it up? It takes 2 seconds to Google the guy’s name.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Kaufman/100000485470039 Stephen Kaufman

    Nelsan Ellis af LAyfayette in True Blood should have been on here.

    • Beestly

      He’s on the list – did you look at all the pics?

  • Shelly

    Russell Crowe in “Sum of Us”, Jennifer Beals “LWord”, Guy Pierce “Pricilla Queen of the Desert….Just to name a few….

    • Beestly

      Beals is on the list.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Kathleen1031 Kathleen Reagan

    Did the actor kissing Cynthia Nixon think about that before giving her this kiss? Ugh.

    • ME

      That would be Blair Underwood

      • Noah

        Because Blair Underwood hasn’t used his mouth in exactly the same way she has? Get a grip.

    • Beestly

      Why would that matter? What do you do with your mouth, and who would want to kiss you? Seems like you’re worried about nothing. I highly doubt that would matter to him or her as to whom they’ve kissed or done whatever with previously. Brush your teeth, act, get paid already!

    • korbermeister

      what Puritan colony are you originally from and where did you hide your time machine?

  • Also Wondering

    You missed Sarah Shahi on the L-Word. Great actress but is definitely straight…..

  • MacFad

    They are NOT a “family” and he is most definitely not “married”. That’s the thing about “acting” it’s all pretend. Like we can PRETEND we’re “married”, we can PRETEND to be a “family”…ad nauseum. The truth is the truth and no amount of propaganda can change that.

    • pepjrp

      You are right as rain, but you can tell that to these marriage pretenders. Very sad for what they may have a head of them.

      • polly hanaha

        Love within a family is never sad… Hate within you IS sad..

      • Beestly

        Maybe if you say the same rant often enough, it will be true for you. I’d rather see two gay people married who are committed to each other and whatever family they create than see two straight people get married for a weekend in Las Vegas or marry and cheat or marry and neglect or abuse the kids or whatever. And that happens a lot more often than two gay people getting married!

    • heh

      and you can pretend to be intelligent.

      • korbermeister

        which would earn MacFad a Razzie

  • suzycreamcheese

    the best: Heath and Jake

  • Aly

    Robin Williams in the BIRDCAGE!!!

    • Rebekah Maccaby Maccaby

      And Hank Azaria. He’s possibly the best character working right now.

  • CC

    don’t forget Tyler Perry…..

  • CC

    Don’t forget Tyler Perry

    • UK Lady

      lol

  • pepjrp

    Cynthia Nixon is playing married. That’s all it is and can ever be.

  • pepjrp

    He pretends to be married. Not possible in actuality.

  • Tiffany

    Matt Bomer from White Collar

  • cake211

    Yes, they definitely should have been mentioned!

  • Northlake

    Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Flawless”. The guy was amazing in that role. He is such a diverse and talented actor.

  • Jenn

    I believe I heard that Gale Harold is also straight.

  • Irridesca

    Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Broke Back Mountain.

    • http://www.facebook.com/rickynavajoe Rick de Luna

      This one is my favorite next to “Victor, Victoria” I love them both.

    • Eric

      Right? How the he77 could Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal be excluded from this list?

      • MerryMay

        #13 and 14

      • Tonya

        They were on the list.

        • Pennagirl

          Nope only Jake was on the list

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kaleb-Wills/100001695302855 Kaleb Wills

            You should read the whole list before you comment. Both Ledger and Gyllenhaal are included.

  • Truth2345

    Obviously the author doesn’t know what the word “gender” means. Sad.

  • Kiki

    Wait…seriously? I feel like a person would be smart enough not to out themselves so blatantly as bigoted. Then again, if you believe what you’ve written, it makes more sense

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Samuel-Adams/100002935325446 Samuel Adams

    Modern Family is stereotypical and offensive.

    • Beestly

      That’s why it’s called a sitcom – most sitcoms are stereotypical, and the unsuccessful ones are offensive to enough people that they get canceled.

  • Excalibre

    Clearly straight people are violent thugs. This sort of thing is why I’m armed and advise other queer people to do the same.

  • http://twitter.com/hardtohandle hardtohandle

    You forgot Chris Gauthier in Eureka.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=810714650 Joe Cogan

    There should be an honorable mention for every male actor (except Kelsey Grammer) on Frasier.

  • HatePickingUsernames

    Colin Firth in A Single Man

  • mbk

    Portia Di Rossi

  • Scott2363

    That’s just sick, and you call it beautiful?

    • Scott2363

      It matters quite a bit. The break down of the “traditional family” is what is bringing this country to it’s destruction. Read a little history and you will find that many a great nation was brought to ruin once they accepted this perverted behavior as normal. In your twisted thinking this behavior is beautiful, but in truth It’s sick, twisted, immoral and just plain evil. You are what is wrong with this once great nation.

      • boyle92

        No, what’s bring America to its destruction is hate and bigotry.

      • http://spacegod.tumblr.com/ spacegod

        “You are what is wrong with this once great nation.”
        Huh? Because there were no gay people 200 years ago?
        YOU are what is wrong with this great nation.

      • AKM

        I think people who use the words “it’s/its” incorrectly are bringing this country to ITS destruction.

  • lisam

    Who’s left out? How about all of the women?

  • James

    Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) played a gay character named Ashley in the TV show Sirens. I thought he did great job, very believable.

  • nimbuschick

    Darren Criss (Blaine on Glee) is actually straight, too.

  • anonymous

    Despite this article’s misleading title, I hope we all know gender is completely independent of sexual orientation. And gender expression is another separate factor that might be conflated in our culture’s system of binary genderism. Don’t let it confuse you :D

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/SANN53ICPBGF3KTTIS3CUNCQ6U GFM2012

      I still don’t want to know. You can say it several times, with slightly different wording, but you’re not fooling anybody, cabaña boy.

      • Robert

        could you be any more of an idiot? Look up the definitions of each, and then stop talking.

  • ami

    Rock Hudson! lol

  • Thunderhawk

    There is one that I can truly think of…. Philip Charles Mackenzie, who played Donald Maltby on the old 1984-1989 Showtime series “Brothers”

  • DanielSon

    what about Tom Cruise and John Travolta?

  • comicalcupcake

    I recently caught a rerun episode of “Monk” in which Stonestreet plays a rugged small-town mechanic. He does such a great job of acting across the spectrum!

  • Devin

    Don’t forget about Darren Criss from Glee!! He plays gay BEAUTIFULLY and so tastefully. Makes me fall in love with him every week!

  • cat o’nine

    William Hurt in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

    • Rebekah Maccaby Maccaby

      Really? I didn’t buy that for a second.

  • Rei

    You left out Darren Criss from “Glee” and Sean Maher from “Firefly.”

  • M

    Matt Bomer from White Collar? No mention? :(

  • MW

    My thoughts exactly

  • Mandi

    Matt Bomer. He plays Neil Caffery in White Collar.

  • NW

    I immediately thought of Matt Bomber who stars in White Collar on USA Network. Very convincing as playboy Neil just as NPH is as Barney.

  • Ang D.

    What, no love for Hugo Weaving’s amazing performance as Mitzi del Bra in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert?!

  • lolololol

    LOL someone’s ultra-sensitive

  • Qix

    Robert Pattinson in “LIttle Ashes”.

  • Beestly

    Why did you bother to look then? Go back into your cave or under your rock.

  • barbiecakes

    Harvey Milk pedo. Sean Penn Wacko.

    • barblibrarian

      Interesting – are you saying Harvey Milk was having relationships with underaged men? I don’t think that has appeared in anything I have read about him. Are you personally aware of this? And, Sean Penn is such an amazing actor you think he is a wacko. Isn’t that cool?

      • barbiecakes

        Sean Penn’s award winning acting comes when he plays himself, an idiot. He’s a dictator hugging jackass. Harvey Milk another wackjob.

  • HCPear

    As Sir Laurence would say “That’s why they call it acting, Dustin.”

  • http://www.facebook.com/crappytownhero Chip Bloch

    Wow, nothing from Oz?

  • Darcey

    I picked up on that locution as well–words have impact; it’s not being hyper-sensitive to think one should pay a little more attention to one’s choice of words–”acknowledged” would have been better.

    • crizz

      acknowledged would not have made any sense at all….NPH acknowledged that he was gay? really? there is a host of words that would have made a better choice than confessed but acknowledged is certainly not one of them.

      • Me

        Professed that he was gay

  • Michele

    Hal Sparks!!

  • http://www.whitneydrake.com/ Whitney Drake

    Wow. Days and days of people pointing out that this isn’t “gender bending” – and Styleblazer hasn’t even bothered to fix it?

    • Rebekah Maccaby Maccaby

      It rhymes.

  • sikesed

    how did willem dafoe get skipped for his role in boondock saints!!!!! and yes he is straight but he was awesome in that movie as the gay fbi agent

  • minuialear

    I found one person of the minority who wasn’t offended, therefore it must not be offensive.

    …seriously?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1008445458 Sarah Kathleen Smith

      Give ‘em a break, they said “not offensive to ALL” — it was a legit statement.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/SANN53ICPBGF3KTTIS3CUNCQ6U GFM2012

    I really don’t care to know. Bend your own gender if you want…

  • Casey T

    Screw Tom hanks. His career is over.

  • http://twitter.com/GaleSquid Gale ✩

    Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson….or maybe Darren as himself…lol…

  • http://www.facebook.com/alun.palmer Alun Palmer

    Agreed, that ad really sucks, whatever it is for!

    • skizzze

      get flashblock for firefox or chrome it works really well and keeps all those dumb flash ads from playing, i didnt even know there were ads on this page xD

      • http://www.facebook.com/annathule Annathule

        Or AdBlock Plus (Beta) – don’t worry, it’s not buggy – for Chrome. I didn’t even know something was supposed to be playing, I can’t even find the add that’s bugging y’all. (And Noxeema ROCKS!!!)

  • http://www.facebook.com/alun.palmer Alun Palmer

    For some of these I didn’t know whether either the character or the actor/actress were straight or gay, and you didn’t even say, so I still don’t know. Well written article – Not!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692546470 Garry Egan

    Absolutely ridiculous site. Littered with self-playing advertisements that play over, and over, and over, each time you visit a page. NEVER COMING BACK to this sh1t site again. GOOD RIDDANCE.

  • John

    They left out Al Pacino in “Cruising”

  • hillaryj

    I loved Robin Williams in the Birdcage! All of them were great in to Wong Foo! And then of course, I haven’t gotten over White Collar’s Matt Bomer (like he was going to marry me anyway!!!). I really think, an actor is an actor and a good one can play either orientation.

  • MoveePhone

    I can’t believe no one mentioned Ian McKellen. Best gay actor ever.

  • Jonny

    Jon Leguizamo in Too Wong Foo…You forget its him!

  • Thought Crime

    How coyuld you leave out the original- Billy Chrystal on Soap?

    • Rebekah Maccaby Maccaby

      Because he wasn’t original, or very good.

      • Shywink

        Billy’s gay character was in fact one of the first ever gay character ever portrayed on TV, so, yeah, he *was* original …. and I might add *very good*!

  • briana9

    im pissed that I have to click through every effing page when this list could easily be condensed into 1-3 pages tops.

  • risklee

    Why is this called “Gender Benders” ? This is an interesting topic on actor sexuality, but it has nothing to do with gender.

  • http://twitter.com/Esmertina Esmertina Bicklesnit

    I only made it halfway through, with all the ads loading and that video starting to play every time, the rest of the slideshow is hardly worth it. You people have the patience of saints!

  • chaitea

    Michael T Weiss played a straight guy in “The Pretender” but was more believable kissing men in “Jeffrey”

  • Art

    This site is now the new MySpace website. So many ads, pop-up videos, irritating colors, etc. It looks like a teenager designed it. Horrible. Will never return.

  • http://www.facebook.com/andreea.kugel Andreea Kugel

    Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhal in Brokeback Mountain. Guy Pearce in The Adventures of Priscilla the Queen of the Desert. Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo in To Wong Foo. Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation.

  • http://www.facebook.com/andreea.kugel Andreea Kugel

    Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny in Boys Don’t Cry. Meredith Baxter on Family Ties. Kelly McGillis in Top Gun.

    • AKM

      Well, to be fair, Meredith and Kelly were in relationships/marriages with men when they were in “Family Ties” and TOP GUN, respectively.

  • A.B.M.

    is this the best you could do?! what a lame website…and yeah, all these annoying videos are – um, ANNOYING!!

  • Rebekah Maccaby Maccaby

    Uh, just because two men kissing on screen are both gay in real life doesn’t make the kiss any more real than any other two actors kissing. There are plenty of examples of men and women who played lovers on screen, and didn’t even like each other in real life. Then you have couples like Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor who had genuine love for each other for many years, even if they were never lovers, and also had many on-screen kisses– and looked very passionate when they did.

  • Wyatt

    How could you miss Gale Harold on Queer As Folk?

  • Molly1

    I agree with the ad that keeps running everytime I click on anything or switch pages. I’ve never been on this site before and will never go on it again…INCREDIBLY annoying !!!!

  • stupid-idiots.

    they mean that some of the people in the list dress in drag.. they have women who play straight, women who play gay, men who play straight/gay, and then there are men who dress like women where their ROLES ARE BELIEVABLE.. come on guys noone can be this dumb. if you see Wesley Snipes in drag… you know thats the part of the GENDER BEDERS part of the title.

    • http://www.facebook.com/kaydenp Kayden Prinster

      That should have been a separate article then, because “Gender Benders” does not apply to the entire article. FOR EXAMPLE, Tom Hanks is not bending his gender to play another male that dresses as male, he’s just changing his apparent sexuality for the role. While noble and awesome of him, it does not qualify as “gender bending”.

      Gender bending would include drag, yes, but it would also include actors acting as another gender for the movie, in whole or in part. Like Mrs. Doubtfire, for example, Robin Williams dresses as a woman for a large portion of the film. I can’t think of an example other than the live Peter Pan I watched as I child, where a woman played Peter, that would be a man or woman acting as what most people would deem the “opposite” gender. I won’t get into politics about them not being opposites as it does not lend to the purpose of this comment.

      My boyfriend just noted that the acting in “Boys Don’t Cry” would count as gender bending because a woman plays a transman. I just haven’t seen the movie so I didn’t think of it.

      • Sara

        Madea.

  • Amanda

    Matt Bomer also should have been in this article!!

  • Lovisa

    How could you leave out James Franco from Milk? Utterly as convincing as Sean Penn, possibly more. And Cynthia Nixon shouldn’t really count as gay playing straight–she’s dated men and it’s not clear if she even had a relationship with a woman until SITC was in syndication.

  • korbermeister

    Also Wondering conducted his own survey last year, don’t you know.

  • Kamcy

    What about oldies like Randolph Scott from all those cowboy movies and Rock Hudson from all those romantic comedies with Doris Day, etc.?

  • http://www.facebook.com/randomninjaofevil Dan Dart

    You completely forgot Stephen Fry in his many roles. He was the first who came to my mind. How could you leave him out?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Etaoin-Shrdlu/1046995598 Etaoin Shrdlu

    Believable? Of course not!

    Just look at the Lord of the Rings movies. They had to spoil it by using humans instead of real Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits, Orcs, Nazgul, and Wizards!

    • MoonChild02

      You wouldn’t classify Elijah Wood as a hobbit? Have you ever seen him? Five foot nothin’ (IMDB is beyond wrong). I’ve seen him in person – he’s shorter than me (I’m 5’2″)!

  • GraceAlexander

    I liked this article right up to the point where they stated NPH “confessed he was indeed a homosexual”. (A) it’s not a crime, and (B) come ON everyone knew he was gay. Jaysus.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZJATFSCKXGQC36RXFPKJEZZLZM Twizler0608

    Um, hello? What about John Gielgud? Or Rock Hudson? And Ian McKellan? And a great big chunk of the Frasier cast?

  • tracij27

    David Hyde Pierce – Niles Crane on Frasier.

  • COLBAY

    I find that the actors who do best in their swapped identities are those who are secure in their own reality. Richard Burton and Rex Harrison (who could be more hetero?) in STAIRCASE, Peter Finch in SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY and THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE. This seems to be true in real life too, secure men are not homophobic, insecure men very often are!

  • JustLurkin

    No. Confess as in “declare.” For example, for a Christian to confess faith in Christ. A perfectly legitimate use of the word.

  • http://www.facebook.com/qtpi52 Kathleen Swiler LaGrange

    I cannot believe you dont have Hank Azaris who played Agador the flaming gay house boy in Birdcage. That is my favortie performance. He was awesome!

    • MoonChild02

      Not to mention Robin Williams!

    • Lucy

      Neil Patrick Harris is not convincing at all. He looks and acts totally gay.

      • p s

        neil patrick harris is gay!

        • torchsnuffer

          I think that was the point!!! he doesnt play straight very well.

          • Poopsie

            Oh, I think he does. However, I do often find myself attracted to gay boys….

          • TheBigKing1

            Because your weird…and you have self esteem issues

    • shiv

      totally! hank azaria was by far the best part of that movie… i sish he had more screen time!

    • Brawny71

      A lot of people are NOT with you on this and find Azaria’s performance to be minstrel-y.

  • D Rufus Onfyre

    The cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert: Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith from The Matrix), Guy Pearce (Memento, The Proposition) & Terence Stamp (General Zod from Superman II).

  • Hunnaaa

    Stanley Tucci. Hottie and straight :)

  • http://poopchutex.myopenid.com/ Open ID

    It’s called acting, stupid!

  • http://poopchutex.myopenid.com/ Open ID

    That’s bull, pal.

  • kerblah

    Richard Harris or Michael Gambon, who both played Albus Dumbledore.

  • Sara

    Gale Harold from queer as folk!!!

  • u. i.

    connor paolo

  • tc

    You might want to learn what “gender bender” actually means.

  • Joysie2012

    How about Gale Harold of recently The Secret Circle and others but mostly of Queer as Folk? He is scrumptious!!

  • katibee

    “Gay” has nothing to do with “gender.” Your headline betrays your ignorance.

  • http://www.facebook.com/staceyelsburymccullough Stacey Elsbury McCullough

    What about amazing and straight Darren Criss who plays gay student “Blaine Anderson” on Glee?

  • save_the_hobbit

    Robin Williams in The Birdcage, for sure. And where’s Darren Criss?! Blaine is a great character, and half of one of tv’s most popular gay couples, and he’s straight in real life.

  • Lady E

    What about Flip Wilson as Geraldine? Or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in that movie “Be Cool”? That was funny. But I don’t like these lists, they don’t include a lot of other actors like that dude from “White Collar”…whats up with that?

  • Henry5312

    George Carlin played Barbara Streisand’s gay neighbor in Prince of Tides. Greg Kinnear played Jack Nicholson’s gay neighbor in As Good As It Gets.

  • Trouble

    You forgot most if not all the cast of “Queer as Folk”. I knew Scott Lowell (Ted Schmidt) personally and he is definitely not gay.

  • Aaron

    Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mysterius Skin. So excellent.

  • Trish

    Matt Bomer is one of the men who could have made this list and I find it amusing that the focus seemed to be on “Straight actors playing gay”, and that most were the “flaming stereotypes”. Acting is acting and the WHOLE point is being someone you are not.

    Other personal fav … Gale Harold (NO ONE ever played a more believable character),

  • Joe

    Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Capote anyone?

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SSKIK7FMDKUXXRHI3BZ3K3ZBOQ michael s

      “They’re killing me”

    • Montana

      He’s Straight?? Well, then add “Boogie Nights” to the list.

  • saintcroix

    we need a spell checker, my page jumped all over the place, and i missed some words here…….arrrrrg! ,( no offense to pirates).

  • http://twitter.com/minimage TP

    It really would have helped if the article had mentioned whether Michael K. Williams or his character was gay!

  • rbmeoe

    Sorry, but I’m a big westerns fan! John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, etc, etc. I’m not saying there were never gay cowboys, but, that image is just gross!! Brokeback Mountain was NOT about gay cowboys, those guys were sheep farmers!! Something no respectable COWBOY would ever be!!

  • rbmeoe

    Hey! What about Patrick Swazey (sp?) in “To Wong Foo…” or Kevin Kline and Tom Sellic in “In and Out”? Kline and Sellic actually kissed on screen! Both those movies were really funny and great performances by straight actors!

  • http://www.facebook.com/lorri.rowlett Lorri Pohl Rowlett

    Umm, Charlie Hunnam in Queer as Folk, now Jax Teller, what a range!

  • http://twitter.com/heyinspiration Sarah Jo

    Darren Criss. Plays such a believable gay character that people have a hard time believing he’s hetero.

  • http://twitter.com/heyinspiration Sarah Jo

    It’s annoying beyond belief.

  • jrnylander

    It is called ACTING people! You don’t have to be gay to play a gay character, just like you don’t have to be murderer or drug addict to play one of those.

    • erniebert

      totally agree, will the next list be actors who played a superhero but have no super power in real life?

    • http://twitter.com/JenJen56600785 JenJen

      I don’t think you understand the idea of projection.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_SSKIK7FMDKUXXRHI3BZ3K3ZBOQ michael s

    Sid. Sid is that you, Sid?

  • Mr. Smee

    Hey, wait, you forgot Tom Cruise. Oh wait, he hasn’t been outed yet . . . except by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson when they produced him in Top Gun.

  • kirk

    Jeffrey Wright from Angels in America

  • Danny’s mother

    Does this mean Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is not really related to Danny DeVito?

  • scott_lewis

    The most obvious one you missed was Hilary Swank in “Boys Don’t Cry”–outstanding performance (and good work by Chloe Sevigny too).

  • gson

    What the H E double Hockey sticks does Obama’s comments have to do with this? Doesn’t tell me anything about the actor…. If I wanted to know Ocrapma’s comments I’d read his speeches!

  • Sable

    Billy Crystal in Soap. He was among the first straight actor to play a gay character in a tv series and did it brilliantly.

    And the comment below is quite right. It is called acting.

  • http://www.facebook.com/james.tobeyLA James Tobey

    Where’s the trailblazer, BIlly Crystal as Jodie Dallas on Soap in the 70′s?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Conti/1326314961 Bob Conti

    Uhmmm, a gay man playing a straight man, or vice-versa, isn’t gender bending, if both the actor and the character identify as being male. Same with women/lesbians. Words matter.

  • Evan

    Priscilla Queen of the Desert with Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp and Hugo Weaving not mentioned? Sad.

  • Janice Adams

    Michael Caine and Christopher Reeves in “Deathtrap” even a gay kiss. Also Raymond Burr played an iconic character for years in “Perry Mason” at the same time living with his partner Robert Benevides.

    • http://www.facebook.com/ndostal Norman Dostal

      Michael Caine is gay

      • 4URINFO

        NO, Michael Caine has been married to Shakira for at least 35 years. Do your homework….

    • 4URINFO

      His name was Christopher REEVE–no S at the end, RIP Chris and Dana….

  • Maxime

    Not one actor from RENT? Hello?!?! And the movie Connie and Carla, and Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire! What a performance, I would have believed it. And next time, get a better title, this is not all gender-bending, much of this is sexual orientation bending.

  • Pearl

    missed: Hugo Weaving and Terrence Stamp in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert….come on now…

  • Pearl

    missed: Hugo Weaving and Terrence Stamp in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert….come on now…

  • doony

    Isn’t Sean Penn really gay?

  • http://www.facebook.com/karin.gambaro Karin Gambaro

    Michael C Hall, Hall Sparks,Tom Selleck. And, OMG I didn’t know that Hank Azaris played the gay house boy in Birdcage! He was fabulous! Now he should go on the list, too!

  • Shywink

    I can’t believe that they left off Patrick Swayze off the list. He was the star of “To Wong Foo…” and they listed both Wesley and John L. Why leave Patrick out of it? He was outstanding in that film!

  • Katie

    It’s funny that you think you might have had a chance if he were straight :D

  • Shywink

    I don’t think that Guy Pearce is gay.

  • barblibrarian

    OMG, seriously, you left off Colin Firth in the Single Man!! Shame on you…

  • POV

    I found Matt Damon very convincing in ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’. And very creepy. But you should be careful how these actors are presented. There is a middle aged woman in Podunk who’s worried about Kelsey Grammer turning gay because he was in ‘La Cage’

  • barblibrarian

    Rupert Everett is gay, but has played many straight romantic roles.

  • Liefhebber

    Eric Stonestreet isn’t gay?

  • David

    Also, The Rock on Be Cool.

  • Ryan

    A few omissions: Hank Azaria and Robin Williams in the Birdcage, Ed Harris in The Hours, Greg Kinnear and Cuba Gooding, Jr. in As Good As It Gets, and Julianne Moore and Annette Bening in The Kids Are Alright.

  • http://spacegod.tumblr.com/ spacegod

    You forgot to mention going down on the bat pole.

  • http://twitter.com/SoCalGal64 Auntie Dee Dee

    Portraying a gay character one time in a movie is different from playing a gay character long-term over the duration of a series.

  • Mark Warren

    Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,

  • http://www.makingloveinthemicrowave.com/ Aja Jackson

    Are Omar from the Wire and Ving Rhames straight? I’ve heard that both were bi in real life.

  • Marie

    I’m shocked we still care about this. Jeez.

  • david barber

    bottom line straight or gay who cares lets focus on the terrorists sorry but seems like you people have to much time on your hands. They were all acting and did a good job now move on

  • david barber

    NPH is the man

  • Valerie Coskrey

    You forgot the actors of “The Crying Game” and Robin Williams of “The Bird Cage.”

  • Amanda June

    You missed william defoe in boondock saints!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/kimberly.a.bachman Kimberly Annette Bachman

    What about Kevin Kline and Tom Selleck in “in and out” Or Robin Williams in Birdcage. Or the late great Patrick Swayze In Too Wong Foo!! You need more than 15 I guess

  • AR-HillBilly

    John Mahoney also played a gay character (along with Dean Cain and Zach Braff) in the movie “The Broken Hearts Club”. GREAT movie!!

  • jimbob2012

    Neil Patrick Harris “confessed” he was homosexual. Nice choice of words, idiot.

  • Jessica

    What about Kevin Spacey in American Beauty? (not sure if someone already mentioned it)

  • Tony

    A man playing a man is not a “gender bender”.

  • Jane Gray

    How could you miss Darren Criss from Glee??

  • http://www.facebook.com/maurice.rhoden.7 Maurice Rhoden

    What would have been the chance that John Wayne would have portrayed a gay on the screen ? Answer: None ! No one on the face of this earth would/could have persuaded him to do so, no matter how much money was offered. John Wayne had principle, today’s actors do not !

  • Scott K.

    And what about John Lithgow in “The world According To Garp.” Brilliantly done….

  • Scott K.

    And Zachary Quinto? You Cannot Forget Him….

  • 4URINFO

    GETTOUTTATOWN!!!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/renee.raia1 Renee V Raia

    non gay to gay is easy but most Gay actors whine about being Gay so much that I just can’t make the leap.

  • http://www.facebook.com/renee.raia1 Renee V Raia

    Nobody cares.

    • Kendal

      Yeah, Wasp, and you’re “normal.”

    • yolds

      No wasp, we really don’t care to hear about, or have to accept that your queer and what you do with your little pecker does NOT interest us at all. so you have your rights, I have to be nice to you and not discriminate against you. Thats IT! I do not have to support you, understand you or even like you… Isn’t America great. Now go back in the closest before I puke……

  • Dude

    Where is Sean Hayes? You really pick Eric McCormick over him? I thought for years Sean was ACTUALLY gay.

    • Kalyn

      Sean is actually gay… lol.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bernie-Bouck/100000578210368 Bernie Bouck

    At one time actor’s were supposed to ACT ! Now with POLITICAL CORRECTNESS only blacks ( read African hyphen etc. ) can play blacks. The same goes with gays, Indians ( of both stripes), women or any other ethnic origin ! No wonder no one goes to the movies any more !

  • Henar

    All part of the gay agenda. They want male, female and gay to be standard… much like their other nonsense words “equality” “born this way” and the worst of all “homophobe” which actually means “fear or gays.” Stupid.

    • Excalibre

      Ooh you are a creepy little dude, aren’t you? How long until you show up on the news after eating a bunch of neighborhood children’s skin?

    • name

      We got one, it’s jackass.

    • Jay

      The term you’re looking for is “heterosexist.” The problem is that only people who study LGBTQ topics and are interested in this stuff actually use it.

  • Becks

    You’re sick and gross. Completely and thoroughly.

  • Missy

    Everyone is rumored to be gay… to gays.

    • http://www.facebook.com/PiercedAddict Andrea Leigh

      very very true!!!

    • http://www.facebook.com/ndostal Norman Dostal

      thats dumb

  • Mary

    Neither is. Stop hating on straight people.

    • Me

      stop being so ignorant mary. most actors are gay or bi. until you’ve worked in the business, shut your mouth

  • Joe Pickens

    Why are gay actors not playing these gay roles? Other groups have been upset with people costumed up to play native americans or blacks.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/YQEUR4Q3PEZRAR7HM473J3IUGE suburban DUDE

    #3 is ridiculous. Is the actor gay playing a straight felon, or straight playing a gay felon? I don’t assume an armed robber is automatically straight.

  • Skipper Jack

    So, actors can pretend to be someone they are not. Amazing!

  • mary miskimen

    Wow. They chose Eric McCormack (Will) over Sean Hayes (Jack) of Will and Grace??

  • Wadeckiburn

    what about the actor who plays Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory? He`s gay in real life but he plays straight on the show, even has a girlfriend named Amy.

  • Patricia

    What about Christian Borle in Smash?

  • BuckyBear

    Neil Patrick Harris “confessed” to being a homosexual? “Confessed” as in, it’s a crime? Maybe he acknowledged that he was gay. This is really poor writing.

  • Me

    Renoly Santiago as the cross-dressing criminal on Con Air.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_U4A2YLY636T66IKYT7VWCRSDH4 Schroedinger's Cat in Pand

    They forgot Tom Cruise in Top Gun and Risky Business – he pretended to be straight in those roles. He pretended to be straight in that reality show with Katie Holmes too.

  • cece

    Sonja Sohn off The Wire

  • http://www.facebook.com/missBoreanaz Jennifer Kua

    Matt Bomer from white collar should be here

  • http://twitter.com/JenJen56600785 JenJen

    A bit crudely stated, however.

  • Burnsie

    What about Tom Cruise? He seems totally straight in all of his movies!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=551727742 facebook-551727742

    THANK YOU! That’s what I came here to say. I thought it was going to be about people who played trans or drag characters (Alex Skarsgard, Patrick Swayze, Dot Jones, Hillary Swank, e.g.).

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andy-Shick/651468252 Andy Shick

    I’m more convinced by Wayne Brady’s swap in HIMYM than I am Neil Patrick Harris’. Also, Blaine from gLee (but not so much the other 4 swappers: Sue, Brittany, Santana, or once again, the character played by NPH)

    • Me

      huh?

  • SFCharlie2

    Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Flawless!!

  • http://twitter.com/BobAKABuffy BobAKABuffy

    Still trying to figure out the gender bending part…playing gay doesn’t bend your gender. Like Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry or Cillian Murphy in Breakfast on Pluto would count more than any of these. Or even Linda Hunt in The Year Of Living Dangerously.

  • rcjoker63

    mike brady (robert reed) did a good job fooling me until the day he died
    …rock hudson too

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000072395253 Sue Harviel

    What about arguably the most famous gay/straight actor – Rock Hudson? Or Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) or even Meredith Baxter from Family Ties? All gay in real life.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nicki.harris.90 Nicki Harris

    Wow! Good call

  • http://www.facebook.com/nicki.harris.90 Nicki Harris

    Not to mention Niles in real life – (Frasier is my all time fave show btw)

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001776061613 Lindsay Paris

    Jonathan Groff was in Glee and on Broadway playing a straight guy, but he’s gay and his role is completely believable!

  • iogfosurg

    alyson hannigan in buffy?

  • http://twitter.com/naruturd Emily Anne Viglio

    What about Jim Carry and Ewin McGregor in “I Love You, Phillip Morris,” Robert Carlyle in “Priest,” or Lee Tergesen and Christopher Meloni in HBO’s “Oz.”

  • PSYCHT & PRECISE

    YOU LEFT OUT WILL SMITHS EXCELLENT ACTING SKILLS FOR THE MOVIE SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION. ALSO, THERE WAS QUEEN LATIFAH IN SET IT OFF.

  • charlie dodge

    I can’t believe they didn’t include Duane “The Rock” Johnson in “Be Cool” the sequel to “Get Shorty”. His performance saved that movie (especially when I realized it was him!)

  • Fraggle

    Gael Garcia Bernal!!!

  • http://twitter.com/dsessions_eagle DB Eagles Fan

    Think one the characters you missed was Nelle Porter from Ally McBeal played by Portia de Rossi. Also I hate that ad playing on the side. Annoying to have to mute it every time I changed pages.

  • BIll

    Bird cage -Hank Azaria or Robin Williams

  • Jack Padir

    Guillermo Diaz definitely deserves a nod!

  • http://twitter.com/ctukyoto Patrick Shields

    Why is an article about homosexuality and heterosexuality called ‘gender benders’? That would be more appropriate for an article about actors who played characters of the opposite gender or transsexuals, and even then the term isn’t particualy nice.

  • Lynxxy

    Jim Parsons in “Big Bang Theory” is gay and plays straight, though some of his moments as Sheldon show him as being a bit “prissy.” However, in the show, he has a girlfriend.

  • John Feinstein

    I don’t understand why the gay guys are often portrayed as being crossdresser. These are two COMPLETELY differently, and do not often over lap. More strait men crossdress than gay men.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethFinn Elizabeth Rose Finn

    It’s not “gender-bending” to play a different sexual orientation. Come on now.

  • http://www.facebook.com/acgsak Sara Anne

    Totally agree. That definitely should have been included!

  • elle

    What about Matt Bomer on White Collar. (Gay playing straight.)

  • Natalie Munoz

    Matt Bomer from White Collar ! He’s gay but his role in the show (Neal) is straight . LOVE HIM ! ((:

  • Me

    your the idiot drew

  • Me

    jane lynch is gay

  • Me

    wow someones full of themselves

  • http://twitter.com/CourtNoodles8 Courtney Shannon

    How could you forget Darren Criss, who plays Blaine Anderson on Glee? One of the most famous gays of the modern era, and I had no idea he was straight until he said so! Such a talent!

  • KWalk

    Darren Criss on Glee! Jonathan Groff in Spring Awakening and Glee!

  • imaginedragons

    You forgot Darren Criss, a straight actor who portrays the young gay highschooler Blaine Anderson on Glee!

  • Charlotte

    Matt Bomer in White Collar. How could you miss Matt Bomer?!

  • Lloyd

    I have to leave because of it. Too bad some of the comments were interesting but it is annoying beyond belief

  • QEliz21

    This article is about “sexual orientation bending” and not “gender bending”. Those are 2 totally different things.

  • AngelSara007

    Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory. His character, Sheldon, is almost asexual, but IRL, Jim has been with his partner for about 10 years. You would never get the impression that he is gay, based solely on his role on TBBT.
    Michael Clarke Duncan – from The Green Mile, Armeggedon, Daredevil, has also played a few gay characters.

  • http://www.facebook.com/user.friendly.1 Brandi Angela Wesensten

    Um Matt Bomer anyone? Neal Caffrey is a pimp with the women lol

  • Archkat

    Lafayette?? From True Blood!?!?! He’s NOT GAY?? Holy crap!!!!! He’s like the gay best friend everyone wants!

  • Mollywobbles

    Calling Eric Stonestreet “one-half of the ‘Modern Family’” is a gross mislabeling. The entire family – the Pritchetts, the Dunphys and the Tucker-Pritchett family – make up the “modern family” referred to in the show’s title, because (with the exception of the nuclear family the Dunphys) the families are extended and blended families, with Jay being the patriarch (father to Claire and Mitchell) who is married to Gloria Delgado-Pritchett who has a son, Manny Delgado, from a previous marriage. Jay’s son Mitchell Pritchett is in a partnership with Cameron Tucker, who have a daughter they adopted from Vietnam, Lily Tucker-Pritchett. Add in the Dunphys – Claire, husband Phil, and kids Luke, Alex and Hayley – and Cameron Tucker is only 1/11 of the “Modern Family”.

    Thought you ought to know. =3

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1405272389 Ashlee M. Onstine

    Darren Criss, who plays Blaine on Glee should be on the list. He plays a gay guy, but is straight in real life. He is an amazing actor.

  • Rachel

    Matt Bomer in White Collar!!!

  • http://twitter.com/TwistedCistern AKA starofoberon

    Thomas Gibson as Beauchamp Day in “Tales of the City” and as David in “Love and Human Remains.” Holy cow, that’s Aaron Hotchner from Criminal Minds?

  • Jessica

    This list is missing Gale Harold as Brian Kinney on Queer as Folk!

  • http://www.facebook.com/PiercedAddict Andrea Leigh

    you dont hafta be gay to go to a gay club. ive been to a gay club a couple times, n im straight as an arrow!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/PiercedAddict Andrea Leigh

    Theres a NoBama statement alright! bravo

  • Noir

    Who writes this stuff? A good number of these don’t even say who is gay and who isn’t. Meh.

  • bip boop

    gay cowboys still incite snickering lol

  • http://twitter.com/charles116 Charles Almon

    What does the term GENDER BENDER have to do with a man being gay?
    Are you suggesting all gay men want to be women?
    What 5th grader wrote the headline and article.
    A gay male is still male.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jsonwerner Jason Werner

    your writer doesn’t understand what ‘gender’ means.

  • BrotherMan

    This website sucks. These stupid autoplay ads are annoying, and the fact that you literally have to go thru 10 pages to see the 8 people they are talking about is a sad. Re-affirm my belief that Black folks can’t do nothing right.

  • jamsr

    Robin Williams in “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “The Birdcage”

  • Samiam

    Oh yeah, u are sooo right! I had forgotten about most of the actors you mentioned. Way to go!

  • Steph

    You missed Darren Criss (who is straight) and he plays Blaine (gay student) on Glee.

  • 22navysubseniorchief

    Matt Bomer on White Collar is a gay man playing straight.

  • Rogr Joly

    You forgot Greg Kinnear and Cuba Goding Jr. in As Good As It Gets, as well as Davd Hyde Pierce and Dan Butler on Frsier.

  • joe

    Why no Patrick Swayze from To Wong Fo???

  • http://www.facebook.com/allen.irizarry Allen Irizarry

    This isn’t gender bending. Gender = playing a different gender. WAAAY different than “acting gay” or “acting straight”.

  • Omnipotential

    Jeffrey Wright in Angles in America is, to me, the best job a straight man has done playing a gay man.

  • http://www.facebook.com/josh.lawrence.37 Josh Lawrence Raymundo Chua

    Forgetting Sacha Baron Cohen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Hes straight, married to Isla Fisher, but he portrayed gay austrian celebrity Bruno

  • Pixie

    Guy Pearce (The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Hugo Weaving (The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert) and Terrance Stamp (The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert)

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003688282111 Purpella J. Tinker

    This article isn’t about gender, it’s about sexual orientation. They’re totally different things…. Guys, this really isn’t rocket science. Please get it right.

  • whatever

    some of these (the actor from the wire) don’t even say whether they’re gay or straight in real life . writers and editors: maybe check the title every time you write and make sure you’re addressing the issue in the title before posting.

    • whatever

      is jennifer beals gay or straight? wesley snipes? john leguizamo?

  • Shelby R.

    You missed a good one. In Flawless, Phillip Seymore Hoffman plays a Drag Queen but he’s straight.

  • http://www.facebook.com/april.trotter.9 April Trotter

    Charlize Theron is AWESOME in Monster. It’s mind boggling how unattractive she is. Christina Ricci does and excellent job also of course!

  • tards

    LETS HAVE A LIST BASED ARTICLE THAT LOADS EACH ITEM ON THE LIST IN A NEW WINDOW AND THEN LETS ALSO HAVE A VIDEO THAT AUTOMATICALLY LOADS AND PLAYS IN EACH WINDOW TAHTS A GOOD IDEA

  • HATERSgonnaHATE

    That’s funny…Jake Gyllenhall….let’s just say I don’t think his acting in Broke Back Mountain was a stretch for him…from what I’ve heard. lol

  • MartiW

    I love the performances you’ve mentioned, but many of them were playing straight characters in drag. Totally agree with you re: Patrick Swayze and Felicity Huffman, tho! (didn’t see Albert Nobbs).

  • IP

    How exactly is playing gay “gender bending”? Do you actually know what “gender” means?

  • diany

    You know, you can fit more information on one page, and save people from clicking through 15 pages with two lines of text on each page. Gross.

  • Christy

    This? A really bad website design. Like others, I won’t return here. Way too tedious.

  • Lol

    what about Cillian Murphy in Breakfast in Pluto?

  • http://www.facebook.com/james.h.watschke James H Watschke

    Considering that her ‘partner’, Christine Marinoni, looks just like a man, it probably wasn’t that hard to fake it.

  • Jay

    Ah, you missed a lot! There were a ton more straight women playing gay in the L Word and what’s with totally missing Queer As Folk??? You also missed The Birdcage, The Kids Are Alright, Six Feed Under, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Glee (which has both straight actors playing gay and Jane Lynch playing straight), numerous soap operas, some lesser-known gay movies and tv shows that I don’t blame you for missing, and probably a lot of other stuff I’m missing. You should also look up a list of gay actors and actresses because basically all of them have had to play straight at some point in their career. A couple that come to mind are Portia De Rossi and Rupert Everett. The problem with making a list like this is that it happens so frequently that gay roles are played by straight actors and gay actors have to play straight roles. I agree with other posters that a more interesting list would be actual “Gender Benders” who had to play drag or another gender.

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  • Jay

    Yup! Also, Jane Lynch is gay but plays straight on the show. And Santana and Britney are both straight in real life. Don’t forget the ladies ;)

  • dantsea

    Only a heterosexual would consider it remarkable that a gay person could play it straight or vice-versa. What’s next? A list of actors playing murderers and bank robbers who have never killed or robbed anyone in real life?

  • kiwi1124

    bradley cooper and eric dane in valentine’s day

  • http://twitter.com/DALESULLIVAN DALE SULLIVAN

    cOULD YOU PLEASE GIVE A LIST OR A ONE PAGE GROUPING? MY COMPUTER TAKES FIVE MINUTES JUST TO GO TO NEXT PAGE!

  • http://www.facebook.com/xphile1002 Bridget Stute

    I cry every time I watch Brokeback Mountain.

  • Julie

    What about Matt Bomer on White Collar? Handsome, debonair, straight con man – played by a handsome, debonair, married gay man.

  • T. S.

    NPH plays the best straight guy (for a gay guy.)

  • Bill

    For those of us who have yet to view “The Wire”, who are not especially familiar with the actor Michael K. Williams, and who see no conclusive inferences to be drawn from the accompanying photograph, it seems an oversight for the article not to mention whether the Omar Little character, or actor Michael K. Williams, is gay.

  • http://www.facebook.com/gerald.givens.92 Gerald Givens

    Because itthe destruction of procreating

  • Soxie

    You forgot Patrick Swayze in To Wong Foo. He was awesome in that movie!

  • tammatha

    Out of all of these picks… Charlize hands down is the most astounding. She morphed into a completely different human being. She so deserved the Acadamy Award on this one.

  • Ellie

    Matthew Rhys in Brothers & Sisters as gay lawyer and then Senator McAllister’s communications director. Great performance!

  • http://www.facebook.com/alexandra.koebererlarson Alexandra Koeberer-Larson

    Guy Pearce in “The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert”.

  • InkyPhoenix

    Sad not to see Cillian Murphy’s performance in “Breakfast on Pluto” not listed. I mean, come on, he received a Golden Globe nom for it!

  • Brawny71

    You often see the word “convincing” used when a gay actor plays a heterosexual–but rarely when it’s the reverse–despite the fact that I have seen several actors either not seem gay at all (Ed Harris in The Hours), or just play it really badly where no matter how well-intentioned they were , it comes off looking like a minstrel act (Jason Alexander in Love! Valour! Compassion!) It’s not easy.

  • Brawny71

    And a lot of people (both gay and non-) are already cringing in anticipation of Michael Douglas as Liberace–a real life human being who has NO BUSINESS being portrayed by a heterosexual. (Despite the fact that the closeted entertainer would have loved being portrayed AS heterosexual, what is likely to appear in the HBO telefilm is a mocking caricature and insult to his memory, try as MD might.)

  • http://www.facebook.com/fatima.buasalli Fatima BuAsalli

    Not to mention that drag queens are not considered gay nor straight

  • Anony-mouse

    Darren Criss as Gay Blaine Anderson!

  • Karenindixie

    Nelsan Ellis is AMAZING as Lafayette in True Blood. Caught a glimpse of him in The Help as the soda jerk…looking forward to seeing more of his work!

  • Karenindixie

    Absolutely agree. I don’t come to this site to be inundated by ads that I don’t want to see or self-starting videos. It takes forever for each page to load because of all the extra garbage. Clean it up SB…it sucks, and when the site sucks, hits start going down

  • Tim Gourley

    NPH “confessed” to being gay? You mean, like a criminal would confess to a crime? Really??? Holy crap, what a homophobic article.

  • ktabulog

    What about Michael C. Hall? While on Six feet Under?

  • Kiamat

    You left out Matt Bomer who is gay but plays the straight character of Neal Caffery on White Collar.

  • Shanna Adams

    I can’t believe Jim Carrey isn’t on here for “I love you Phillip Morris”!!! That movie was great–and based off a true story none the less.

  • Andie

    WHERE THE HECK IS DARREN CRISS?!

  • zizwe

    minorities all seemed to dress up in drag… hmmm