Iconic Gay Movie Roles

It’s not exactly news that as a mass medium, cinema has the power to dramatically influence and change public attitudes toward minority groups, often making them accessible and relatable to the mainstream.

Unfortunately, that power works the opposite way as well and the movie industry, under a strict legion of ‘so-called’ decency laws commonly referred to as the Hays Code enacted in the 1930s, tended to frown upon positive representations of the gay community up until the 1960s. Gays were still present on screen, but more often than not, they were limited to stereotypes such as the drag queen/transvestite, the degenerate, the depraved killer and so forth.

As The Celluloid Closet (1995) brilliantly revealed, many gay and bisexual men had their motivations buried in subtext – virile characters like Ben Hur, for instance, were blatantly bisexual, but had to be inconspicuous about their love for the boys.

As the years rolled on, iconic movie performances by big name stars slowly helped change traditional perceptions, bringing a queer view ever closer to the popular forefront. The undeniable pinnacle of this mainstream ‘movement’ was encapsulated by teen heartthrob Heath Ledger’s performance as the strapping Ennis Del Mar in 2006’s Brokeback Mountain and last year’s Oscar winning performance by Sean Penn in Milk.

Having arrived at this point in time, it seemed appropriate to bring you a selection of 10 performances that we believe changed the popular perception of gay men in some important ways.

After explaining why each performance mattered enough to be discussed, each is then rated in two categories: ‘Cultural Significance’ and “Cultural Impact.”

Cultural Significance evaluates a performance we felt aimed to contradict or alter popular perceptions of gay men (even if the film itself wasn’t very commercially successful).

Cultural Impact measures how widely these roles affected gay awareness in popular culture.

Although the list is in no particular order, each of these performances has in some way made the gay man’s experience relatable and in turn, changed attitudes about gays in mainstream culture for the better.

Obviously, it is hard with the limited scope here to cover everyone’s favorites, so feel free to share your own recommendations in the comments section.

Daniel Day-Lewis & Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

Why It Mattered

Playing Johnny and Omar respectively, the two lead characters set tongues wagging when they first appeared on screen together in the mid-eighties. The ex-punk Johnny and his Pakistani friend Omar were notorious for being the first visible biracial gay couple on the silver screen.

This aside, Laundrette challenged the notion that presumed gay men were strictly limited to the cloyingly familiar camp and effeminate stereotype. With the arrival of roughneck Johnny and his involvement in the U.K.’s neo-fascist gang culture, the film informed the public that gay men were to be found in every walk of life, including the brutal underbelly of the working-class, as opposed to the unfortunate pop generalization that too often assumed that all gay men work in beauty salons.

As well, Gordon Warnecke’s impressive portrayal of a gay Asian man trying to fight the bounds of his conformist heritage is worth considerable note here. Arguably, this performance challenged the predominantly conservative South East Asian community in Britain, informing them that homosexuality is a human quality that supersedes race or cultural identity.

A gay thug and a repressed Asian engaged in a conflicted Romeo and Juliet-esque romance? The tension is still palpable. Undeniably, the well-received performances in My Beautiful Laundrette made waves when the film was released in 1985 and are just as crucial to the gay film lexicon today.

Cultural Impact: High

Cultural Significance: High

Rupert Everett in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

Why It Mattered

As the sarcastic and handsome George Downes, Rupert Everett proved that an actor could play a gay role, while also maintaining a sense of virile masculinity. At the same time, with his lacerating tongue, playful wisdom and quiet confidence, the character of George is the only seemingly ‘normal’ individual in the movie, encouraging Julianne (Julia Roberts) to do the right thing by telling her best friend (Mulroney) that she loves him.

Everett’s character flips the gay stereotype on its head by suggesting that gay men can take on a variety of societal roles. Indeed, George is a notable editor and a confidante, who can even ‘play it straight’ when he needs to (by pretending to be Julianne’s fiancé).

And in most unconventional fairy tale fashion, it is he who ends up dancing with the leading lady (Roberts) in the final scene of the film.

The comedic film has traditionally acted as a point of access between mainstream audiences and the gay community. However, too often the gay male tends to play the role of the outright Other (i.e. Priscilla or Hedwig), and as such is turned into a spectacle for the straight audience, as opposed to an individual who is relatable (and equal) to the heterosexual viewer.

Yet with the character of George Downes, Everett was able to portray an individual who was as astute and cultured as any of his heterosexual counterparts, and with this, he made the gay male an object of envy for men and women from every walk of life.

It’s just a shame that mainstream culture didn’t catch on sooner.

Cultural Impact: High

Cultural Significance: Medium

Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Why It Mattered

As the tortured Sonny, Pacino turns what could have been an unlikeable movie villain into a relatable, conflicted soul. Sonny is stuck in between a rock and a hard place; he has a wife and three kids, but he is in love with a man and he desperately needs the money to get a sex change operation.

While his unfortunate heist unravels, the viewer becomes privy to the complexities of Pacino’s three-dimensional portrayal. Sonny is a street-smart man, who has honorably served his country by fighting in Vietnam. He believes his intentions are noble; after all, they are but a product of the brutal society that he grew up in. And the audience can hardly blame him for these faults.

Up until 1975, one assumes that there was little, if any, representation of gay men who possessed such seemingly accessible masculine characteristics. It is only his motivation – the sex change operation for his lover – that makes him different from your conventional anti-hero.

At times, the picture is a letdown because it chooses to veer off into unflattering pop psychology. Questions arise such as: Is Sonny desperate to leave his wife simply because she is chubby? At other times, the film thrives on heavy-handed Freudianism with the suggestion that Sonny’s love for men may have developed from an overbearing relationship with his father.

Nevertheless, Pacino’s performance was significant for its era and is still able to challenge contemporary audiences who even today rarely see gay men who have served in the military.

Cultural Impact: Medium

Cultural Significance: Medium

Colin Farrell in A Home at the End of the World (2004)

Why It Mattered

In perhaps one of the sweetest gay/bisexual performances of all time, Colin Farrell plays Bobby, an uneasy young man whose only goal in life is to make other people happy. Farrell’s Bobby is a physically gorgeous and deeply innocent character who tries to escape his pain by creating a very unconventional but loving family unit.

Because Bobby is so afraid of abandonment, one is never sure if Bobby is actually gay or straight; all we know is that he wants to be loved. Accordingly, Bobby proved to the world that a desire for love and companionship can surpass the need for a defined sexual orientation, a complex reality rarely shown in mainstream motion pictures.

Despite its epic story and Farrell’s humanistic portrayal, A Home at the End of the World struggled to find an audience at the U.S. box office, which brings its impact levels down a peg or two. Still, with big name stars like Farrell and Sissy Spacek in the film, one can only hope that this movie will continue to reveal a thing or two to the traditionally straight-laced DVD-watching audience in the future.

Cultural Impact: Low

Cultural Significance: Medium

Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)

Why It Mattered

Philadelphia was the first big budget Hollywood flick to tackle the subject of AIDS and at the time was considered the first motion picture to try and righteously shatter narrow-minded public perceptions of both the disease and of gay people.

The importance of Hanks’ taking on the role and his performance is hard to miss. Viewers fearful of AIDS and bigoted toward those suffering from it – and who may have been misguided into believing it was a purely gay disease – were still enthused to go and watch the beloved actor in movie theaters.

To put it another way, both Hanks, as well as co-star Denzel Washington, made it “safe” for “normal” viewers to watch the “gay” movie.

Although the film doesn’t cover any new ground, Hanks as Andrew Beckett acts as a source of both sympathy and inspiration. His desire to fight his old law firm, instead of helplessly waiting for the disease to overcome him, is a truly courageous act. By the end of picture, not only has the audience become fond of Beckett, but also of Washington’s character, Joe Miller, who embodies the traditionally homophobic alpha-male.

Although limited by its formulaic courtroom setting and conventional structure, Philadelphia is still one of the highest grossing films with a leading gay character. Accordingly, the impact of Hanks’ performance on public gay perceptions and social attitudes is undeniable.

This, coupled with his crowd pleasing Oscar winning speech, makes this one of the iconic gay performances of our time.

Cultural Impact: Very High

Cultural Significance: Medium

Bruce Davison in Longtime Companion (1990)

Why It Mattered

Unlike Philadelphia, Longtime Companion’s strength is derived from the performance of Bruce Davison as the lover of a gay man dying from AIDS, which ends with one of the most heartbreaking deathbed scenes in movie history as a distraught Davison tells his bed-ridden lover, +‘It’s all right. You can let go now.’

This emotional moment illustrates the tremendous courage and strength that the gay community had to endure while heterosexuals stood by and ignored their plight, coldly dubbing AIDS as the ‘gay cancer’. Davison’s gut-wrenching portrait made it clear to the world that gay men live, love and grieve just like everyone else.

Although not as financially successful as Philadelphia, Longtime Companion had both great cultural impact and significance, garnering major awards and gaining mainstream press attention.

This was achieved by the filmmakers’ bold choice to portray a truly gay experience without having to succumb to the generic conventions of mainstream Hollywood. At the same time however, by humanizing the lover’s dilemma and following through on his journey as his lover dies, Davison’s performance made his character’s experience accessible to a wide spectrum of viewers.

Cultural Impact: Medium

Cultural Significance: Very High

Robin Williams in The Birdcage (1996)

Why It Mattered

At times, it’s hard to sidestep the doom and gloom of the gay film canon, but with The Birdcage’s Armand Goldman, Robin Williams created a character that was both hilarious, lovable, and even more surprising, restrained. Seeing one of the eminent comics of our time as part of a gay couple (along with Nathan Lane) undoubtedly encouraged film enthusiasts to take note of his performance.

In a movie that is more about character than plot, Williams, with his biting comedic quips, helps anchor the film, making his straight vs. gay predicament something that any viewer can grapple with.

In the end, The Birdcage is but a remake of La Cage aux Folles, and accordingly, it is the French who deserve the credit for hilariously tackling issues surrounding homosexuality so early on. However, the fervent portrayal of Armand is so utterly unique to mainstream cinema that one must give Williams the props he so rightly deserves.

Cultural Impact: High

Cultural Significance: Low

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mysterious Skin (2004)

Why It Mattered

The depiction of sexual abuse has historically been controversial both within the gay community and in society at large. As such, three-dimensional characterizations of sexual abuse survivors tend to be sporadic and rarely very good. Despite this, Joseph Gordon-Levitt managed the fearless task of playing a boy whose life has been programmed by his troubled childhood of sexual abuse.

Unfortunately, Levitt’s riveting turn did not draw in mass audiences. However, the significance of a teenage heartthrob like Levitt playing such an unconventional role was incredible at the time.

In a textured narrative that is one part coming-of-age story and one part survivor-story, the viewer is able to endure the harrowing journey through the protagonist’s troubled past and it brings us out at the other end, feeling strangely satisfied. Without ever blaming homosexuality for the act of sexual abuse itself, Mysterious Skin helps audiences dig deep into the many facets of gay existence.

Cultural Impact: Low

Cultural Significance: High

Sean Penn in Milk (2008)

Why It Mattered

In a world where Proposition 8 (and its subsequent controversy) still looms in the headlines, it is impossible to deny Sean Penn’s pitch-perfect characterization of Harvey Milk. As the first openly gay man elected to public office, Milk sacrificed his personal life for an idealistic goal that is still being pioneered today by millions around the world.

In this brilliant performance, Penn takes us to the root of Milk’s psychology, without over embellishing. Instead, his Harvey Milk is an ordinary man with desires and worries like the rest of us, but his hunger for a better world free from bigotry forces him to start what can only be dubbed a revolution.

Few biographical pictures have been as realistic and as relevant as this one. Penn’s performance is nuanced, but powerful. His Harvey Milk is completely human, which helps make this more than a movie about the gay experience.

Rather, it is a picture that reveals our universal need for compassion, love and understanding. And that encourages us to cherish our collective human qualities, however different they may be. This message has continued to resonate in the media and at the Oscars last February, when Sean Penn made a speech that so eloquently put forth the case of equality for all.

Cultural Impact: High

Cultural Significance: Very High

Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Why It Mattered

Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain has pretty much defined an entire era of gay filmmaking. Initially touted as a small art house favorite, Brokeback ended up an international blockbuster, drawing in audiences who deemed it a ‘universal love story’. The film went on to sweep up awards right, left and center, before so controversially failing to capture that coveted Best Picture prize.

With such praise surrounding the film, one tends to forget how incredible the performances were. And that is most true of Heath Ledger’s Ennis Del Mar, a repressed gay man in nearly unbearable internal turmoil and rarely ever able to consummate the relationship with the man that he so desperately loved.

Unlike Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), Ennis was so trapped by his fear that he was unable to even fulfil his most basic sexual desires, instead choosing to live his life behind a pseudo hard man exterior.

But what was most profound about Ledger’s role was how his agonizing heartbreak at the end of the film managed to stir emotions in both the straight and gay community alike.

In the character of Ennis, mainstream audiences, many of whom may only have been exposed to campier characters, were able to witness a portrayal that differed drastically from what they were used to. And Ledger’s heartthrob status, as well as his untimely death in 2008, adds even more texture to his tortured portrayal of Ennis Del Mar.

Whatever the case, it is undeniable that Heath’s bold portrayal is not just one of the most iconic gay performances, but one of the greatest performances of all time.

Cultural Impact: Very High

Cultural Significance: Very High

Other Noteworthy Mentions:

Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls (2000)

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)

River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters (1998)

Greg Kinnear in As Good as It Gets (1997)

Peter Finch in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)