Wednesday evening on the BlogTalkRadio show, The Gay Agenda, actor Micheal Boatman who was in the TV series China Beach and Spin City was our guest, this broadcast being the first in which this author is now a regular co-host along with the show’s creator and publisher of the website Gay Agenda, James Hipps.
Boatman played a gay character on Spin City, the ABC TV series which ran from 1996 to 2002. The show which was a fictionalized version of what takes place in City Hall in New York City, starred Micheal J. Fox as Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty, Barry Boswick as Mayor Randall Winston and Boatman as Carter Heywood who is the head of minority affairs, who is gay and has a suicidal dog named Rags.
Micheal Boatman is a broadcast interviewer’s dream, and I mean this in the nicest of ways, he talks and talks and talks, making it easy for the interviewer who doesn’t have to sit there and get answers from guests like pulling teeth or filling dead air, as I actually had to do at the beginning of the show (nice way to start my premier appearance) when Micheal was a tad late and James had to excuse himself to get Micheal’s call-in hooked up. Oh well, such is life in a live broadcast.
After giving Micheal the floor to talk about his roles, books and screenplays which he has written, he led the conversation to the major point I was going to bring up in my contribution to the night’s program, regarding actors and actresses, both straight and out, playing gay characters in movies, on TV and in theater and the possible consquences in taking the roles.
As a background and lead into the topic, I discussed the 1982 movie, Making Love, starring Micheal Ontkean, Kate Jackson and Harry Hamlin. The movie which was released not too long after the “gay plaque” was first being reported in the news, was the first mainstream film drama which addressed the subject of homosexuality and the effect of being closeted and coming out while in a heterosexual marriage.
Making Love portrayed two variations of being gay, one in which people want a committed relationship and of course the stereotypical view of gay men being promiscuous, oft times through anonymous sex and not wanting anything to do with relationship commitment to another man.
I mentioned how Harrison Ford, Micheal Douglas and Richard Gere had turned down the lead role in the movie, expressing concerns due to the film’s subject matter, and one can read into that, given the times in which the movie was made, to play a gay or lesbian could, if not kill, certainly cripple an actor’s career.
I discussed a 2006 interview on Bill O’Reilly’s show on the FOX News Channel which was about “Homosexuality and Hollywood” and both Hamlin and Tab Hunter were the guests.
Among several things Hamiln said in the interview were, “playing a gay character hurt me” …. “I have not done another studio picture in 20 some years”.
He also said he was happy to have been part of the film and when talking about Hollywood itself and actors who portray gays, “Hollywood remains a cowboy town” …. “I think if they were casting a film and they wanted somebody to play a heterosexual male lead they would probably say, wait a minute, that guy was just gay in that movie and the audience is going to get confused”.
I asked Micheal Boatman if things have changed in Hollywood for actors portraying gays and lesbians some 20 plus years since Making Love was made and for the most part he felt things have changed, but still understands some actors are still hesitant in portraying members of the LGBT community.
Personally he said playing Carter Heywood has not hurt his career, but prior to taking the role, friends and colleagues were both supportive and cautious in his decision.
One of the points I brought up was the audience response, whether movie, TV or theater, when an actor takes on the “gay role” and does the audience still accept him or her for their acting and not begin to question or wonder “are they or aren’t they”?
He said members of the LGBT community are grateful for his role and has never had any negative backlash for taking the role either from Hollywood, producers or fans. But as he explained he does feel it is still hard in some ways, albeit not as it was 20 odd years ago, for actors to take on the challenge in doing what actors do, act and portray a gay or lesbian character.
You can listen to the entire hour long interview with Micheal Boatman by clicking here.
The Gay Agenda is presented live every Wednesday night at 8 PM (ET) and any episode in the archives can be listened to anytime.
