Kristin Chenoweth Attacks Newsweek Article on Openly Gay Actors
Last time I saw Kristin Chenoweth guest star on Glee, I may or may not have made a few comments about her worryingly overtanned exterior, but all is forgiven, K-Chen! The actress and Broadway veteran has positively ripped into Newsweek for its ridiculous, Ramin Setoodeh-written article on how openly gay actors simply aren't believable when they play straight. Setoodeh saved the bulk of his criticism for Sean Hayes (who currently costars opposite Chenoweth in the musical Promises, Promises) and Jonathan Groff (who's also guesting on Glee, and about whom Setoodeh wrote "When he smiles or giggles, he seems more like your average theater queen"). In a comment posted under his article, Chenoweth has come after him with both guns blazing.
As a longtime fan of Newsweek and as the actress currently starring opposite the incredibly talented (and sexy!) Sean Hayes in the Broadway revival of 'Promises, Promises,' I was shocked on many levels to see Newsweek publishing Ramin Setoodeh's horrendously homophobic 'Straight Jacket,' which argues that gay actors are simply unfit to play straight. From where I stand, on stage, with Hayes, every night -- I've observed nothing "wooden" or "weird" in his performance, nor have I noticed the seemingly unwieldy presence of a 'pink elephant' in the Broadway Theater. (The Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Tony members must have also missed that large animal when nominating Hayes' performance for its highest honors this year.) I'd normally keep silent on such matters and write such small-minded viewpoints off as perhaps a blip in common sense. But the offense I take to this article, and your decision to publish it, is not really even related to my profession or my work with Hayes or Jonathan Groff (also singled out in the article as too 'queeny' to play 'straight.') This article offends me because I am a human being, a woman and a Christian. For example, there was a time when Jewish actors had to change their names because anti-Semites thought no Jew could convincingly play Gentile. Setoodeh even goes so far as to justify his knee-jerk homophobic reaction to gay actors by accepting and endorsing that 'as viewers, we are molded by a society obsessed with dissecting sexuality, starting with the locker room torture in junior high school.' Really? We want to maintain and proliferate the same kind of bullying that makes children cry and in some recent cases have even taken their own lives? That's so sad, Newsweek! The examples he provides (what scientists call 'selection bias') to prove his 'gays can't play straight' hypothesis are sloppy in my opinion. Come on now! Openly gay Groff is too 'queeny' to play Lea Michele's boyfriend in Glee, but is a 'heartthrob' when he does it in Spring Awakening? Cynthia Nixon only 'got away with it' 'cause she peaked before coming out? I don't know if you've missed the giant Sex and the City movie posters, but it seems most of America is 'buying it.' I could go on, but I assume these will be taken care of in your 'Corrections' this week.
Similarly, thousands of people have traveled from all over the world to enjoy Hayes' performance and don't seem to have one single issue with his sexuality! They have no problem buying him as a love-torn heterosexual man. Audiences aren't giving a darn about who a person is sleeping with or his personal life. Give me a break! We're actors first, whether we're playing prostitutes, baseball players, or the Lion King. Audiences come to theater to go on a journey. It's a character and it's called acting, and I'd put Hayes and his brilliance up there with some of the greatest actors period. Lastly, as someone who's been proudly advocating for equal rights and supporting GLBT causes for as long as I can remember, I know how much it means to young people struggling with their sexuality to see out & proud actors like Sean Hayes, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris and Cynthia Nixon succeeding in their work without having to keep their sexuality a secret. No one needs to see a bigoted, factually inaccurate article that tells people who deviate from heterosexual norms that they can't be open about who they are and still achieve their dreams. I am told on good authority that Mr. Setoodeh is a gay man himself and I would hope, as the author of this article, he would at least understand that. I encourage Newsweek to embrace stories which promote acceptance, love, unity and singing and dancing for all!
As Glee's Matthew Morrison would say after a vigorous round of applause, "THAT'S what I'm TALKIN' about."
Straight Jacket [Newsweek via The Advocate]
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Comments
Kristin, I love you in every imaginable way (except, well, I'm gay). Thank you forever for writing this. And SHAME on NEWSWEEK! I won't be buying it any more, and if they ever do anything like this again, I will boycott--and write--their advertisers. But yeah, they're going under, so good riddance!
Bravo,and wild applause!! KC you ROCK!!
When I watched Glee, I thought that Jonathan Groff was trying to get me to have sex with him by singing to me through the TV. So I guess that guy was wrong about that one.
Well, and everything else.
-Katie
While complimenting Kristen Chenoweth for standing up for LGBT actors and smacking down Ramin Setoodeh for his prejudice, why do you feel it necessary to denigrate people with mental retardation? Just like it's not okay to call someone a fag, it's not okay to call someone a retard. As the fight for sexuality and gender based civil rights has shown us, language matters. It sets the tone for respect and consideration, and you just insulted an entire group of people while being upset at the article's author for doing the same thing.
Think before you speak.
OMG, Kristin! There are Jewish actors? I demand their names, now! Who knew?
Thank goodness for Kristin, who speaks out against the neanderthalic attitudes that pervade America today. I've known Jonathan Groff was gay for years, and I still found him to be beyond sexy in Spring Awakening and on Glee. Neil Patrick Harris also plays straight and does it masterfully.
What I'm curious about is, if gay actors can't play straight, can straight actors not play gay? Can Christian actors not play Jewish? Can females who are tomboys in real life not play girly girls, or can a guy's guy not play metrosexual? As time progresses, we should be breaking down barriers, not perpetuating them. Perhaps Ramin Setoodeh chooses his journalistic angles based on personal insecurities, either over his own ability to "play straight" or as what he perceives as gay actors being ashamed of their sexuality and therefore choosing to play straight over gay. No matter-- it's not his place to judge, nor to cloak his skewed opinions in the guise of certain actors being too "queeny." Another newsflash: in today's deluge of metrosexuals, there are more "queeny" straight guys in the movies today than I can count. No wonder Setoodeh felt the need to bash Glee-- its message of acceptance and empathy are over his head.
Uh...people bought Rock Hudson for years....
And Neil Patrick Harris is quite believable on "Mother"....
To me it doesn't matter whether or not the person cast for a particular role is gay.If he or she has the credentials to play the part more power to them.If the person who wrote this article is gay and is bashing someone within the gay community who is playing a straight role he is alienating his community.Good actors are good actors regardless of sexual preference.
See: Ted Haggard and George Alan Rekers
As for the article, I thought the bad tan was part Chenoweth's character on Glee. So she deserves accolades not forgiveness for her willingness to look ridiculous for comedy.
When my daughter was in the business (early-to-mid-80s) as a young actress (Broadway, TV, Radio) I was stunned at what I saw backstage and on-set. All my favorite actors (and some actresses) were macho/feminine while the cameras rolled, but when the cameras stopped, they stopped pretending. I felt so very sorry for them at the time because it was so apparent many of them were not the straight, masculine heart-throbs they were pretending to be. Over the years, as I met more and more in-the-closet actors/actresses, they all seemed to have one thing in common; they were very unhappy with who they were and acting helped them to cope. For a brief time they could become someone else. They could become what other people wanted them to be. It is no wonder so many of the young actors I met in the 80s are no longer with us or in and out of rehab, or on their fifth marriage or still serial dating with no wife or family after 30 years. If people who bought the tickets to their films and shows realized how very unhappy many of them are in real life they would also understand what a price they have paid for being on the A-List and being bankable. That is why I took my daughter out of the business when she turned 11. I had seen way too much sadness. I did not want this for her. I have never regretted that decision. She is in her 30's, happily married with a new baby, and has a successful career outside Show Biz. She was one of the lucky ones. Thank you Kristin for standing up for your fellow actors and actresses. I adored you before this, but really love you now!
how queer...I can name a dozen CLOSETED gay actors who don't seem to have any problems playing straight characters...
Kristin is my frikkin hero!! I love how passionate she is about LGBT rights (I also love that she said "this article offends me because I am ...a Christian"-acceptance people, acceptance and love is what Jesus was talking about)
I have been a long time fan of Will & Grace, and watching that show, I believe Jack is gay. I (a straight female) recently got to see 'Promises, Promises' I believed Chuck Baxter was straight. I bought that-big time!! In fact, I think I have a crush on Sean Hayes now. He was so charming and boyishly sexy in that role!
I think if an actor is talented, their off-stage life isn't what you're going to concentrate on, and to say that a gay actor cannot play a straight character is setting the LGBT community way back.
Hayes' ability supersedes his sexuality, and I challenge anyone to say otherwise!
I would argue that Sean Hayes comes off more a lot believeably "straight" as a love-obsessed hetero than Jack Lemmon (presumably het) did in the original film of "The Apartment" from which "Promises, Promises" is derived. Sean is far sexier, too, needless to say.
Long a fan of Kristin Chenoweth, I am now a wild, crazy, mad fan of Kristin Chenoweth for her loyalty, character and depth of feeling as shown in her response to the unfortunate Newsweek article--Ramin Setoodeh’s sadly homophobic 'Straight Jacket'. Chenoweth's beauty, talent and enviable vocal abilities are mesmerizing. Who would have guessed that such a good and loving heart was there, as well.
I was at the taping of the Glee season fianle. The girls in front of me in the balcony were convinced that JG and LM were a couple off set. I guess he's doing a damn good job of "playing straight." Too queeny my ass!!
The entire point of acting is for the actor to adopt a role or persona. If you can't believe a gay actor as a straight character, how can you accept *any* actor as a police officer, pirate, cowboy, astronaut, serial killer, vampire, mob boss, or anything else they might play if that's not who they are in their personal life?
"retarded" is a medical term out of use in mental diagnosis. when used, as in this response, what is attatched to the word retarded is knowledge of third wave use. first: medical term, 2nd-insult, 3rd-insult the insulter-refer to first and 2nd uses. even my crippled friends feel left out when they feel their group never gets bagged on. for use of the word "crippled" see "retarded."
Requisite start: I LOVE Kristin Chenoweth as a performer, artist, and now person - well said, Ma'am!
I have to beg the question though, did it occur to anyone that homosexuals would be a natural choice to play "straight?" In my life, I have never acted professionally or otherwise on stage or screen, and I played straight for roughly 20 years. Come to think of it, of every gay freind I've ever had, every single one has had some expereince in playing a convincing straight character - WE'RE BORN DOING IT! A heterosexual actor, of which there are many talented ones, must I imagine summon up a character using a natural talent and learned skills over a period of education and career; and yet almost any gay person you meet on the street, acting background lacking, could likely play straight right in front of any person without them being any the wiser.
It's a sad state of affairs that the period of time between childhood until the coming out period in a gay persons life is spent acting out another character's life 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but it's still a reality. Mr. Seetodeh, you make the case a gay actor can not convincingly play straight. I say find any gay person who hasn't had to at some point in their life - and nailed it!
-Chris
K-Chen IS my hero (heroine?). You GO, girl!
Female stupidity exposed: http://goo.gl/QBvA
And this has to do with Kristin Chenoweth blasting a Newsweek article how?
Excellent for Kristin Chenoweth! I will always be a fan
What suprised me most about this article isn't that some snarky gay guy got a smackdown but that there are heterosexual roles in musical theater.
I mean, why?
I was at the studio when Liberace auditioned to play Dirty Harry Callahan, the role Clint Eastwood made famous. Lee didn't quite have what it took to be convincing in the role.
Chenowith rocks, rules, and reigns as far as I am concerned. I was already a fan of her vast talent, now I am a respectful admirer of her common sense advocacy and willingness to put herself on the line by repudiating Setoodeh's hurtful and ridiculous words. By the way, the self-loathing coward has posted a reply to KC in Newsweek, insisting now that he was merely trying to "start a dialogue." Oh, really? This gentle, thoughtful soul also whines about the backlash he's deservedly receiving, thinking it's also somehow relevant to mention some of that backlash focuses on ... his haircut. That's so absurdly pointless it's almost cute. Seems to me this erstwhile "seeker of dialogue" is really something of a media-attention-wh*re (can I say that?) who wants to ratchet up his minimally-valued stock by taking headline-grabbing potshots in print and on the blogosphere. I'm tempted to ask that we not pay him any attention, but that's antiquated, ostrich-like behavior. The real culprit here is Newsweek, for letting this pass as legitimate criticism. Back to the perfume counter for Setoodeh. And, lest he not be gay enough or old enough to get THAT iconic queer reference, tell him to watch THE WOMEN (1939). Clare Booth Luce didn't seem any more enamored of her gender than he seems of his ... brothers, sisters, and intelligent, informed allies. But at least she was genuinely witty. Setoodeh ... not so much.
Given an article like Mr. Setoodeh's - that it drove Ms. Chenoweth to write such a (well-done, well-deserved) rant - I think likening Newsweek to a really bad liberal arts school newspaper may be insulting to really bad liberal arts school newspapers.
Sadly, Liberace was never a good ACTOR, which is the underlying point of KC's letter.
A good actor can play almost any role...much as Liberace could probably play almost anything on his piano.
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