So this was an article in The Boston Globe today, in the Arts section discussing actors/actresses who are out of the closet, and the lovely Glee stars Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer were mentioned (and pictured!)
Check out the full article here: http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2011/10/16/openly_gay_actors_are_working___on_tv/
“[Brad Calcaterra] sees more actors wanting to come out because they see so many out actors working on TV. ‘If you can tune in and see Neil Patrick Harris or see Chris Colfer on ‘Glee,’ you can start imagining a place for yourself.’ “
— Chris Colfer (via chrith-c)
“There might be risks for a gay actor coming out. The politics of that are quite complex, it seems to me.
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 - and if a gay man wants to play a gay role now, you don’t get cast.
I think it needs to be addressed and I feel complicit in the problem. I don’t mean to be. I think we should all be allowed to play whoever - but I think there are still some invisible boundaries which are still uncrossable.”
It’s really refreshing to see a straight actor state this outright. (Just how awesome and self-aware is Colin Firth!? If I didn’t think he was a great guy already, he would have won my respect by owning up to that). Chris has said that he’s not afraid of losing opportunities because of his sexuality because he knows how to create opportunities for himself, and because he’s confident in his abilities as an actor. I love and respect that attitude, in part because the above quote from Firth is so true. I look forward to watching Chris smash those boundaries in his career by playing different kinds of roles and challenging people’s expectations.
Read more cut for length…
Given recent quotes and recent storylines, it’s probably time this made another appearance.
Chris isn’t wrong to say that there is a lot of pressure on Darren as an actor for playing the role of Blaine, nor is he wrong to suggest that he is deserving of credit for doing it well. Though, we hope someday that the day will come where the knowledge that there are actually straight actors who would actually be uncomfortable playing this sort of role is as disgusting to everyone else as it is to us.
But we think that Chris does consistently fail to give himself enough credit for the things he does and for handling the pressures that come with his own role with as much grace as he manages. Chris was terrified (his words, not ours) when he first took this part, and he was incredibly brave to have done so. Likewise, coming out at such a young age and in so public a manner was a tremendous example of courage and dignity. But because of the apparent ease with which Chris plays the role of Kurt Hummel, people really don’t grasp the enormity of what he is doing.
And we know that failing to acknowledge this is Chris just being his normal, humble, self-deprecating self. We also know that this is Chris being sweet and sincere in his generous praise for a co-worker. But in this particular instance it’s jarring because it echoes society’s tendency to praise straight actors for playing gay while implying that a gay actor playing a gay character is just ‘playing himself.’
It’s especially interesting that this quote, as well as the recent one from Chris during The New Yorker Festival about how he doesn’t let Sean Hayes’ resemblance to his uncle Matt get in the way of his enjoyment of his performances, both come in the middle of the related storyline started with the events of I am Unicorn. We’re really anxious to see where the writers are planning to take this, and how things are going to work out (or not) for Kurt.
And we really hope that tumblr!Chris comes back soon so that he can tell us all his personal take on these events. (Don’t worry, he’s fine, he’s just been taking a break for a couple of months.)
~ heathermione and chriscarsonkurt
I remember not knowing what ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ meant until I was like 12. I literally was told that a lesbian ‘liked books’ and ‘gay’ meant ‘they’re happy.’ I think that how it is in most conservative town households. I think the first time it ever came to my knowledge was ‘Ellen,’ was her sitcom, ‘cause I remember her (coming out.) That, and then I think it kinda took off from there. Then there was Will&Grace.
But I think that’s probably why I’m so proud of Kurt because…there are others, of course, before Kurt, but…I’d say 90% of all gay characters that were ever on TV were the punchline or the punching bag. And you never got to walk with the gay character and grow with them.
"— Chris Colfer, New Yorker Festival Oct. 1, 2011 (x)
— Chris Colfer (via icanhearyoudreaming)
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Chris Colfer, New Yorker Festival Oct. 1, 2011 (x)
(In response to Kurt’s typecasting plot in “I Am Unicorn” and its parallels with the controversial Newsweek Article from last year that said openly gay actors like Sean Hayes and Jonathan Groff can’t convincingly play ‘straight.)
It’s great to hear him more or less verbalize this quote from April, which is what I was constantly thinking about when I was watching Kurt’s story in “I Am Unicorn.”
(via illyriaz-shell)
— Chris Colfer (via bethandbee)
Short Answer: The Village People.
Long Answer: Costume has always been very important in queer counter-culture, particularly for gay men. The Village People were created to market gay male fantasy archetypes (the construction worker, the sailor, the biker, etc) to disco’s gay fan base. The sailor as a gay fantasy archetype existed before The Village People and was a popular costume choice, but I think they are credited for cementing that particular trope in mainstream culture.
Chris in OUT’s Stonewall Tribute Series.
(Click through for HQ.)
Joshua Grannell could hardly keep his emotions in check as he listened to teenage girls go wild for openly gay actor Chris Colfer as he stepped onto the stage for the Glee Live! concert this spring at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52034649-78/gay-grannell-film-lake.html.csp
More:
San Jose is not, after all, San Francisco, and yet here were hundreds of girls giving the loudest screams for Colfer, who plays Kurt Hummel, a gay character on the show.
“I didn’t know this was happening,” Grannell said. “Maybe being gay and famous wasn’t quite as scary as it once was.”
Then again, the San Francisco filmmaker knows better than that. There are still plenty of closeted actors in Hollywood who don’t dare openly disclose their sexual orientation for fear of what coming out might do to their careers, Grannell said.
I love this quote, but feel the need to include the last paragraph because people too often forget the truth of it.
