Around the world, trans lives are being celebrated and defended through striking pieces of public art.
Last week, the US state of Philadelphia unveiled its first-ever mural celebrating trans lives.
Titled “We are Universal”, the mural was created by artist Kah Yangni and the residents of Morris Home – a small, residential, substance and alcohol recovery programme that caters specifically to trans and gender non-conforming people.
“I think it’s really awesome to be trans,” Yangni told USA Today. “I’m really proud of what I am, but I know that we live in this world where not everybody thinks that, and people in our community go through a lot.
“So I wanted to make something that would feel like a huge hug and acknowledges some of the things that are hard about our lives, but ultimately is really loving and really warm and says, ‘We’re here, and we exist.’”
The 2,200-square-foot mural shows bright colours, flowers, a butterfly and the faces of two of the Morris Home residents. It also includes quotes from residents, such as: “We’re trans”, “We’re survivors”, “We are joyful”, “We feel rage” and “We are universal”.
Artist Kah Yangni, who developed the ‘We are Universal’ mural, playing the trumpet in the Extraordinary Rendition Band at a festival in 2017. (Getty/Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe)
The Philadelphia mural celebrating trans lives is the latest in a line of murals, renamed parks and statues about trans people in the UK and US. While some commemorate important trans public figures, others draw attention to violence. Many more that were erected have since been defaced or pulled down.
From honouring the legacy of trans pioneer Marsha P. Johnson to highlighting the issues faced by trans people living today, here are six more of the most moving tributes and calls to action about trans lives.
Bristol, UK: Mural highlights trans healthcare crisis
Waiting times for a first appointment at a specialist NHS gender clinic in the south west of the UK are on average four years, and in some cases as long as five years, say the trans activists who painted the mural, with hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgeries an additional three to five years of waiting.
“We don’t want special treatment,” the mural says. “We just don’t want to die waiting.”
New York, US: Queer activists put up bust of Marsha P. Johnson in park
Viewers can add flowers to the Marsha P Johnson bust in Christopher Park. (Twitter/ EliErlick)
Marsha P. Johnson founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), which was dedicated to helping homeless queer youth, was instrumental in the 1969 Stonewall uprising, and fought tirelessly throughout her life to advance the rights of the LGBT+ community.
It was announced in May 2019 that Johnson and her STAR co-founder Sylvia Rivera would be honoured with a monument in New York, but in the two years since, the project has not been completed.
Sculpted by queer artist and sex worker Jesse Pallotta, a bust of Johnson was put up in Christopher Park, nearby to the historic Stonewall Inn.
Writer, activist, and public speaker Eli Erlick shared photos of the bust on Twitter, and wrote: “Happy birthday, Marsha! Early this morning, a group of friends and I put up this bust of Marsha P Johnson in Christopher Park.
“It’s the city’s first statue of a trans person and – shockingly – only the eighth statue of a historical woman out of 800 monuments in NYC parks!”
Norwich, UK: Bimini Bon Boulash defiant after ‘trans rights’ mural painted over
(World of Wonder/Instagram/knapple_)
A mural celebrating Drag Race icon Bimini Bon Boulash was painted in the Pottergate pass in Norwich in March 2021. It was created by local artist Knapple and trans activist Sharpay Salazar.
The mural featured Bimini in their iconic Norwich City Football Club ensemble alongside an inspirational message supporting trans rights.
However, just a few days after it was painted, the mural was painted over in an apparent act of vandalism.
Bimini Bon Boulash hit back at the vandals, vowing they will “never stop being myself”.
They continued: “I’ll never shy away from living an authentically queer experience even if there are people that disagree with our existence.
“Trans rights are human rights, and I will push that message until the end.
“I feel sorry for the people who felt threatened or intimidated by a message portraying love, positivity and kindness.”
New York, US: State park renamed for Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P Johnson. (Netflix)
New York’s East River State Park, in Brookyln, was renamed for Marsha P. Johnson in 2021.
However, the tribute did not go without a hitch: Initial plans for the park were scrapped after complaints from Johnson’s family.
Black trans activists also raised concerns about the “harsh thermoplastic colours and extended cement slabs” contained within the park, while Johnson’s cousin accused the city of “exploiting” her name for publicity.
The park designs were then overhauled, and a different plan emerged. The cement slabs were gone, replaced with greenery and log benches. A planned mural of Johnson was also swapped for a series of commemorative plaques, along with a mosaic featuring a poem written by Johnson leading to the river.
Chicago, US: Street mural commemorates Black trans people who were violently killed
Local artists came together to create the memorial to Black trans people (Twitter/@jshine1224)
In the summer of 2020, local artists in Chicago came together to honour the hundreds of Black trans people lost to violence with a powerful street mural.
Featuring the words “Black Trans Lives Matter” stretched across the street in Catalpa Avenue, Andersonville, the mural was created by 22 artists or art groups, with the help of neighbours who donated $4,000 to pay the artists for their time and materials.
Each participating artist decorated an individual letter in the mural. One artist, Bailey Funk, painted the words “say their names” in the letter B, prompting others to paint names around the mural, each one colour-coded to give context to the deaths.
The names in pink are people whom police killed in the last five years, while the names in yellow identify unarmed people of colour killed by police since 1975.
Hollywood, US: All Black Lives Matter
The words ‘All Black Lives Matter’ painted on Hollywood Boulevard (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty)
A huge painting of the words “All Black Lives Matter” in the colours of the trans, non-binary and rainbow Pride flags, is permanently displayed on Hollywood Boulevard.
Installed after the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the block-long message between Highland Avenue and Orange Drive was painted with the help of hundreds of volunteers on 13 June, 2020.
Will Smith is just one Hollywood star featured in the list(Getty)
Here are just some of the straight Hollywood stars who have played gay or lesbian roles on the silver screen, as well as some of the out gay actors who have made a name for themselves playing it straight.
1. Ewan McGregor in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Ewan McGregor played gay prison inmate Phillip Morris in 2009’s I Love You Phillip Morris. (Keith Tsuji/Getty)
Ewan McGregor plays prison inmate Phillip Morris this black comedy based on the story of the real-life 1980s and 90s story of a con artist and repeated prison escapee Steven Jay Russell, played by Jim Carrey.
Phillip and Steven share a rollercoaster love story about forgiveness and ill health after the pair become romantically involved in prison.
After they are both released, Steven is caught embezzling and the pair are sent back to prison. Phillip is enraged by his actions and tells him that he does not want to see him again.
He later learns that Steven is dying of AIDS-related complications, and phones him to tell him that he is still mad but still loves him.
Steven later “dies” – but it turns out his illness is just another ruse so that he can get out of jail and see Phillip once more.
2. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game (2014)
Benedict Cumberbatch played Second World War code breaker Alan Turing in 2014’s The Imitation Game.(Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty)
Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing in the loosely biographical film about the gay mathematician who deciphered the ‘Enigma’ code during the Second World War.
The film follows Turing from his days as a bullied schoolboy to finally finding his feet when he develops a friendship with Christopher Morcom (Jack Bannon), who introduces him to cryptography.
As Turing becomes an expert in the subject, he also develops romantic feelings for Morcom, who dies suddenly and unexpectedly from tuberculosis.
Turing starts work at Bletchley Park after Britain declares war on Germany in 1939 and begins to work on the infamous Enigma machine which helps to break the Nazi’s secret military code.
In the 1950s, Turing is convicted of indecency and forced to undergo chemical castration. The film ends as one of his colleagues visits him and sees his physical and mental deterioration.
In real life, Turning took his own life in 1954, two years after his conviction.
3. James Wilby in Maurice (1987)
James Wilby played the titular character in 1987’s Maurice. (Mikki Ansin/Getty)
The acclaimed film adaptation of E. M. Forster’s 1971 novel charts the Edwardian-era love story of Cambridge University students Maurice Hall (played by James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant).
Maurice and Durham’s relationship grows closer after Maurice drops out of Cambridge to pursue a career as a stockbroker in London.
However, they break their relationship off after their close friend Lord Risley (Mark Tandy) is arrested and sentenced to six months hard labour for soliciting sex from a soldier.
Maurice undergoes gay “conversion” therapy but it is, obviously, unsuccessful and Maurice meets gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves) who he becomes intimate with.
The two flee England to live in a country where homosexuality is no longer criminalised, while Clive is left to reminisce about his relationship with Maurice.
4. Meryl Streep in The Hours (2002)
Meryl Streep played a lesbian woman in 2002’s The Hours. (Getty)
Meryl Streep stars in this 2002 film adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s 1999 novel as Clarissa Vaughan, a lesbian woman living in New York.
The film focuses on the stories of three different generations of women but Clarissa’s story is about her caring for a close friend and former lover who has contracted HIV and is dying from an AIDS-related illness.
Streep’s scenes centre around the character planning a party for him in his last days.
5. River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho (1991)
The late River Phoenix played a gay hustler in 1991’s My Own Private Idaho (George Rose/Getty)
The late River Phoenix stars as gay hustler Mike Waters in My Own Private Idaho, which is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Henriad’ series of plays; Henry IV parts one and two, and Henry V.
Phoenix’s character, Mike, suffers from narcolepsy and we follow his journey as he travels across the US from Oregon to Idaho in the search for his estranged mother.
He takes the journey with his close friend Scott (Keanu Reeves), and as they travel Mike behind to fall in love with him.
Their journey takes them to Italy, where Mike’s mother has migrated to search for her own family. While there, Mike realises that his mother has returned to the US but Scott falls in love with a woman. Mike returns to the US without him.
6. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
Tom Hanks at the premiere of Philadelphia. (Getty/Ron Galella)
Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a closeted gay lawyer who is a senior associate at one of the largest corporate law firms in the city.
While balancing his secret and professional lives, Beckett contracts AIDS.
Beckett is later fired and he believes that someone in his firm sabotaged him because of the diagnosis, and so he launches a lawsuit against the firm.
During the trial, he becomes weaker and is eventually hospitalised but the jury decides to rule in his favour and $5 million in damages is paid out to him.
Hanks has since said he would not take on the role today as a straight man, saying: “Could a straight man do what I did in Philadelphia now? No, and rightly so.”
7. Antonio Banderas in Philadelphia (1993)
Antonio Banderas (left) with Tom Hanks in 1993’s Philadelphia. (TriStar/Getty Images)
Antonio Banderas plays Miguel Álvarez, partner of Tom Hanks’ Andrew Beckett, in Philadelphia.
The award-winning drama was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge the HIV/AIDS Crisis and the implications it had for homophobia in society and the LGBTQ+ community.
Philadelphia marked Banderas’ big Hollywood breakthrough. He had previously played a gay man in Pedro Almodóvar‘s 1987 Spanish comedy thriller Law of Desire – a role which saw him kiss another man on screen for the first time.
8. James Franco in Milk (2008)
James Franco delivered an award-winning turn as LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk’s lover in 2008’s Milk. (Jason Merritt/Getty)
Milk is a biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk (played in the film by Sean Penn), who in 1977 became the first out gay person to be elected to public office in California.
Franco plays Scott Smith, Harvey Milk’s lover. Smith inspires Milk to move to San Francisco in hope of finding a community that accepts their relationship.
Smith serves as Milk’s campaign manager, but he grows frustrated with Milk’s devotion to politics, and he leaves him.
Milk was written by Dustin Lance Black, who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film in 2009. Black would go on to marry British Olympic diver Tom Daley in 2017.
9. Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015)
Eddie Redmayne played transgender pioneer Lili Elbe in 2015’s The Danish Girl. (Getty)
Redmayne plays trans landscape artist Lili Elbe in this Oscar-winning LGBTQ+ drama set in mid-1920s Copenhagen.
It is based the life of Danish painter Lili Elbe, who was one of the first known people to undergo gender affirmation surgery surgery.
The Danish Girl follows Lili as she comes to terms with her gender identity while being supported by her wife Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander).
She begins to seek help from doctors and meets one which offers to help her with gender affirmation surgery, but the artist tragically dies following complications with her second operation.
10. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking for its depiction of a gay relationship in a mainstream Hollywood film. (Screengrab/River Road Entertainment/Focus Features)
Gyllenhaal plays Jack Twist in director Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Annie Proulx’s 1997 novel.
Jack is working as rodeo cowboy in 1960s Wyoming hen he makes a pass at Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) after a night of heavy drinking, with the pair quickly developing a deep emotional and sexual relationship.
They part ways and go on to marry women, but after four years Jack visits Ennis and he tries to convince him that they should spend their lives together.
Instead, the lovers organise regular fishing trips where they can be together, but the story takes a tragic turn after Jack dies in what is implied to be a homophobic attack.
11. Dame Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal (2006)
Judi Dench played a schoolteacher with a homoerotic obsession in 2006’s Notes on a Scandal. (John Phillips/Getty)
Judi Dench plays lesbian history teacher Barbara Covett in the 2006 psychological thriller Notes on a Scandal.
It follows Barbara, a spinster and history teacher in London who takes comfort in writing in her diary. She begins to develop feelings for her new colleague, an art teacher named Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett).
However, things turn sour after Barbara realises that Sheba is having a relationship with an underage student, using this knowledge to manipulate her new friend.
After Barbara leaks the affair, both she and Sheba are fired. Sheba’s husband leaves her and the art teacher is sentenced to 10 months in prison, with the film ominiosuly ending with Barbara striking up conversation with another younger woman.
12. Julianne Moore in The Kids Are Alright (2010)
Julianne Moore played a lesbian parent in 2009’s The Kids Are Alright. (Elisabetta A. Villa/WireImage/Getty)
Julianne Moore plays Jules, a lesbian woman married to Nic (Annette Bening), who together have two children conceived using a sperm donor.
When the children get older they feel the need to contact the sperm bank to meet their donor father.
Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is revealed as the dad and he quickly becomes enthusiastic about being in his kids’ lives, however, the mothers don’t find out about their relationship straight away.
Jules and Nic invite Paul over and Jules and Paul click. Nic is still cold towards him as she feels his presence undermines her authority over their children.
Jules soon embarks on an affair with Paul, and while the whole family are at his house Nic finds her partner’s hair in his bed and bathroom.
Nic confronts her partner and the family fall out. It ends with the two mothers dropping their daughter off to start college, and shows them holding each other affectionately, suggesting they’ve overcome the infidelity.
13. Robin Williams in The Birdcage (1996)
Robin Williams played the owner of a drag club in 1996’s The Birdcage. (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty)
Williams plays the out gay owner of a South Beach drag club, Armand Goldman.
Goldman and his flamboyant partner Albert live together above the club and lead a lavish life together.
However, he is forced to play straight when his son’s future ultraconservative politician in-laws come to visit.
The gay couple uproots their life to pretend to be brothers as the family visit, but the night of the visit ends in turmoil as the conservative family are forced to dress in drag in order to escape the press.
14. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Heath Ledger played ranch hand Ennis del Mar in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain. (Peter Carrette Archive/Getty)
Ledger played Ennis del Mar, a ranch hand who falls in love with Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) while working together.
Despite their powerful connection, Ennis refuses to pursue a relationship with Jack as he is haunted by a childhood memory of the torture and murder of two men believed to be homosexual.
Their respective marriages to women (played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway) fall apart and while they still frequently see each other but begin to drift apart.
Ennis tries to reach out to Jack once more but is devastated to learn of his death, which he fears was a result of a homophobic attack.
15. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for his portrayal of gay writer Truman Capote in 2005’s Capote. (Michael Caulfield/WireImage/Getty)
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays gay author Truman Capote in the biographical film about his time writing the 1966 book In Cold Blood.
Capote becomes attached to two convicts who have been charged with killing the Clutter Family. He frequently visits them to try and understand the evening they were killed.
He develops a bond with convict Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and his soft tendencies, but the whole time he grows further away from his life at home.
16. Cher in Silkwood (1983)
Cher (right, pictured with Val Kilmer) was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 1983’s Silkwood. (Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty)
Cher plays the lesbian character Dolly Pelliker in Silkwood, a film about the life of Karen Silkwood, a nuclear whistleblower and labour union activist who died in mysterious circumstances
Silkwood was a plutonium factory worker and is played by Meryl Streep. Cher plays Dolly, Karen’s lesbian friend.
The film marked a turning point in the LGBTQ+ icon’s career as one of the more “serious” films she did.
17. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
Sean Penn (centre) won an Oscar for his portrayal of LGBTQ+ pioneer Harvey Milk in 2008’s Milk. (Getty)
Sean Penn plays the title character Harvey Milk in the film biopic which documents his political career, from his early failed political campaigns up until his assassination in 1978.
It also looks at his relationship with Scott Smith (James Franco) and Jack Lira (Diego Luna), as well as his working relationship with Dan White (Josh Brolin), a conservative supervisor on the San Francisco Board.
White eventually shoots Milk after he becomes enraged at the gay rights movement.
18. Charlize Theron in Monster (2003)
Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster. (Getty)
Charlize Theron plays the role of Aileen Wuornos, a real-life sex worker who was executed in 2002 for killing six men.
Theron received critical acclaim and won seventeen awards for her portrayal, including the Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress.
The biographical film follows Wournos after she kills a client that raped her and her attempts to get out of sex work.
However, her lack of qualifications and criminal history pushes her back into sex work, and she begins to rob and kill her clients as she suffers PTSD from the rape.
19. Christina Ricci in Monster (2003)
Christina Ricci starred opposite Charlize Theron in 2003’s Monster. (Getty)
Christina Ricci plays Selby Wall, the girlfriend of Aileen Wuornos in Monster.
The book which the film is adapted from is written by Tyria Moore (the real-life girlfriend of Wuornos who the character Selby Wall is based upon).
Wall lives off the money that Wuornos makes my robbing and killing her clients, without realising the crimes her partner was committing.
Wall eventually testifies against her partner, leading to a death sentence being handed to Wuornos.
20. Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Jim Carrey played gay con artist Steven Russell in 2009’s I Love You Philip Morris. (Getty)
Jim Carrey played Steven Jay Russell in the comedy-drama film about the prison escapee and con artist.
In prison, Russell falls in love with fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor).
When Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes to be with his lover.
21. Marlon Brando in Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Marlon Brandon played a sexually repressed solider in 1967’s Reflections in a Golden Eye. (Getty)
Marlon Brando plays a married soldier on an army base in the 1940s whose sexuality is repressed.
Brando was the fourth choice for the role after the original actor Montgomery Clift died. Richard Burton and Lee Marvin turned the role down before it was offered to the Oscar-winning actor.
Elizabeth Taylor co-starred as Brando’s wife.
The film, based on the 1941 novel by Carson McCullers, was largely unsuccessful at the box office.
22. Whoopi Goldberg in Boys On the Side (1995)
Whoopi Goldberg played lesbian musician Jane in 1995’s Boys On the Side. (Getty)
Whoopi Goldberg plays a lesbian lounge singer, Jane, on a road trip with Holly (Drew Barrymore) and Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) in this 1995 American comedy-drama directed by Herbert Ross.
Jane is in search of a new life after breaking up with her girlfriend and getting fired.
The threesome embarks on a cross-country road trip, forming a special friendship throughout the tragic but beautiful journey.
Jane falls in love with Robin, but she contracts HIV, and the three go their separate ways.
The film ends as Robin dies from AIDS-related complications, Holly starts a family, and Jane hits the road once more to seek a life of her own.
23. Hugh Grant in Maurice (1987)
Hugh Grant played gay Cambridge student Clive Durham in 1987’s Maurice. (Mikki Ansin/Getty)
The 1987 British romantic drama is based on the novel by E. M. Forster and is a classic gay love story set in the early 20th-century.
Grant plays the wealthy Clive Durham who confesses that he is attracted to Maurice (James Wilby), but the feelings go unreciprocated until they begin to develop an intimate relationship with each other.
Durham stops them from becoming sexually involved as he fears that his status as an upper-class member would be diminished if their relationship was found out.
24. Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Will Smith played gay con artist Paul in 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation. (Getty)
In this 1993 comedy-drama, Smith plays Paul, a gay con-artist who works his way around the Upper East Side with his charming charisma.
Paul befriends some of the richest New Yorkers and in turn, he schemes to live off their money.
The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play of the same name.
It was inspired by the real-life story of David Hampton, a con-man in 1980s New York who convinced the city’s elite that he was the son of a famous actor.
25. Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal of trans man Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty)
Swank plays a young trans man in this biographical film about Brandon Teena, a man who was brutally killed in a transphobic attack in 1993.
The film looks at the transphobia Teena had to deal with as people began to realise he was transgender.
He receives physical threats and gets into fights often leading him to move to Nebraska, where he meets his girlfriend Lana Tisdel (played by Chloë Sevigny) and befriends her brothers and friends.
Teena’s criminal past catches up with him and he is imprisoned and the group realise that he is transgender while going through documents.
Lana’s brothers become enraged, beating and gang-raping Teena before later killing him after he reports the incident to police.
26. Daniel Radcliffe in Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Daniel Radcliffe played gay poet Allen Ginsburg in the 2013 biopic Kill Your Darlings. (Getty/Slaven Vlasic)
He said that the gay kiss with co-star Dane DeHaan was ”sincere, passionate and romantic”, and joked that he would like to win an MTV award for it.
Actor, Daniel Radcliffe on the set of the film ‘Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire’, London, England, 2004 (Photo by Murray Close/ Getty Images)
The star also spoke in an interview about filming gay sex scenes for the film, saying that when filming an intimate scene, the director gave him “step-by-step” instructions.
He also joked that “gay sex, especially for the first time is really painful”.
27. Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch is best known for her role as Glee’s Sue Sylvester. (Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage)
It’s not just straight actors who have gone gay on-screen, gay actors have played against their off-screen sexuality also.
Well known for playing Sue Sylvester the sadistic coach on the hit show Glee, Lynch is a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.
She played a lesbian on-screen 2000’s Best in Show, but has also played an array of straight characters.
From Paula in The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) to Julia Child’s sister Dorothy in Julie and Julia (2009), this out gay actor has her fair share of straight roles under her belt.
28. Luke Evans
Welsh star Luke Evans has been out publicly since the start of his acting career. (Getty)
Out gay Welsh actor Luke Evans has made the transition to Hollywood leading man over the last decade and in 2017 he played the villainous Gaston in Disney’s live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
The star also played the boyfriend of bisexual actor Michelle Rodriguez’s character in the Fast and the Furious franchise.
He has also starred in hit films like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Raven (2012).
29. Rosie O’Donnell
Rosie O’Donnell came out publicly in 2002. (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty)
The comedian, actor and presenter came out publicly in 2002 and has since been a vocal champion of LGBTQ+ equality and a vocal critic of former US president Donald Trump.
She married her wife Michelle Rounds in 2012 but has played straight on the silver screen a number of times.
O’Donnell played Doris in A League of Their Own (1992)and Betty Rubble in The Flintstones in Viva Las Vegas (2000).
30. Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes came out publicly after marrying her wife Alex Niedbalski in 2008. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)
Comedian and actor Wanda Sykes came out publicly after marrying her wife Alex Niedbalski in 2008.
She has appeared in a number of big screen and TV roles, playing straight characters such as Biggie Shorty in Pootie Tang (2001).
Sykes also appeared alongside Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez in Monster-in-Law (2005) and has been a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights through her comedy and campaigning.
31. Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons played The Big bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper for 12 seasons. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
At one time rumoured to be the top paid out actor in Hollywood, Parsons played Sheldon Cooper on the The Big Bang Theory for 12 seasons from 2007-2019.
Parsons’ character was in a relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) for several seasons.
Sarah Paulson is currently in a relationship with actress Holland Taylor. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty)
The American Horror Story actor has played a number of straight characters in Ryan Murphy’s hit FX anthology series.
She also played a Christian who believes homosexuality is a sin in the short-lived 2006 TV drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, starring Friends’ Matthew Perry.
She dated actor Cherry Jones from 2004-09 and since 2015 has been in a relationship with actor Holland Taylor.
33. Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez came out publicly as bisexual in 2013. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty)
The Fast and the Furious star played straight character Letty in a number of the franchise’s films.
She came out publicly as bisexual in October 2013 and has since revealed that she dated Cara Delevingne.
Rodriguez got into some hot water when she defended her role in 2016’s controversial action film The Assignment, which saw her play an assassin who undergoes a ‘forced sex change’ at the hands of a crazed doctor, played by Sigourney Weaver.
34. Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris came out publicly in 2006. (Getty)
Neil Patrick Harris out publicly as gay since 2006, but it hasn’t stopped him playing straight roles on TV and film.
The star, who has a twin son and daughter with husband David Burtka, famously played straight womaiser Barney Stitson in TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
Upon coming out publicly in 2006, Harris said: “I am happy to dispel any rumours or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love”.
35. Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin has juggled acting with his singing career. (Getty)
The Puerto Rican singer and actor came out publicly as gay in 2010 following years of tabloid speculation around this sexuality.
He wrote on his website at the time: “These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed.”
Martin has played both gay and straight characters on TV. He played straight singer Miguez Morez on General Hospital from 1994-95 and later took on the role of Gianni Versace’s partner Antonio D’Amico in Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story in 2018.
36. Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller is best known for his role in TV action series Prison Break. (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
The Prison Break star came out publicly in 2013 when he posted a letter to the GLAAD website declining a place at a Russian film festival over the country’s persecution of LGBTQ+ people.
He played Michael Scofield in Prison Break from 2005-2009 before returning for a revived fifth season in 2017.
Miller has since been a strong advocate for mental health awareness, LGBTQ+ rights and other important causes, revealing in 2021 that he had been diagnosed with autism as an adult.
37. David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Pierce played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier between 1993 and 2004.
By the end of the show, Crane had a son and was married to a woman, but Pierce came out publicly as gay in 2007.
He married his partner Brian Hargrove in 2008, at which point the pair had already been together for 25 years.
38. Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon is best known for playing Miranda Hobbes on Sex and the City. (Getty/Dimitrios Kambouris)
The politician, activist and actor played Sex and the City‘s Miranda across six seasons, two movies and one spin-off.
Nixon was in a relationship with teacher Danny Mozes from 1988-2003, with whom she shares one child, who she revealed in 2018 is transgender.
She began dating education activist Christine Marinoni in 2004, with the couple marrying in 2012.
While Sex and the City’s Miranda was portrayed as straight duringthe series’ initial TV run and first two films, the show’s 2021 revival series And Just Like That… saw the character come to a new understanding regarding her sexuality after beginning a romance with non-binary YouTuber Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez).
39. Maria Bello
Mario Bello released a 2015 book exploring the theme of sexuality. (Getty)
Coyote Ugly star Maria Bello came out in 2013, but it never stopped her playing straight roles on the big screen.
She has since made appearances in films like The 5th Wave (2016), The Late Blooner (2016) and Lights Out (2016).
Bello has a son with her ex-boyfriend Dan McDermott, but has been in relationships with women including Clare Munn and chef Dominique Crenn.
In 2015 she published a book on the topic of sexuality entitled Whatever… Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves.
40. Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming is one of Hollywood’s most high-profile bisexual male actors. (Getty)
The bisexual X-Men star married his partner Grant Shaffer in 2007 and the pair renewed their vows in 2012.
Cumming has played a number of straight roles in his career, including Joe Therrian in The Anniversary Party (2001) and Sandy Frink in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997). But it hasn’t stopped him from being a powerful advocate for LGBT rights.
He has since starred in hit shows like The Good Wife and presented the US edition of hit reality competition The Traitors.
He was awarded an OBE honour by the Queen in 2009 but revealed in January 2023 that he had handed the award back due to the “toxicity” of the British Empire.
41. Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster publicly came out during the Golden Globes in 2013. (Jon Kopaloff/Getty)
After years of remaining publicly tight-lipped about her sexuality, Foster publicly came out in an acceptance speech at the Golden Globes in 2013.
She told the crowd: “I already did my coming out about 1,000 years ago back in the Stone Age, those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers, and then gradually and proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met.”
Throughout her career, Foster has played a number of straight roles, including Annabelle Bransford in Maverick (1994).
42. Zachary Quinto
Zachary Quinto came out publicly in 2011. (Brendon Thorne/Getty for Paramount Pictures)
The out gay star of Star Trek played a straight character in the film franchise, with Spock getting together with Ahura (played by Zoe Saldana).
Quinto came out publicly in 2011 and has played a number of roles in his career.
The LGBTQ+ rights advocate also took to the small screen in multiple seasons of Ryan Murphy’s chilling anthology series American Horror Story.
43. Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson kept the fact that he was gay a secret throughout his life. (Getty)
Although he didn’t come out publicly in his lifetime, it became well known that Rock Hudson had relationships with men.
He died of AIDS-related complications in 1985, becoming the first major celebrity to die from complications relating to the disease.
Throughout his career, the heartthrob appeared in heterosexual leading roles opposite stars like Doris Day, such as Brad Allen in Pillow Talk (1959) as Jerry Webster in Lover Come Back (1961), and as George in Send Me No Flowers (1964).
44. Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008. (Rich Fury/Getty)
The Australian-American actress’ most notable TV roles have been in Ally McBeal and as Lindsay Bluth Funke in Arrested Development, where her character was married to a man.
She married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008 and the couple are still going strong.
De Rossi has also made film appearances in motion pictures such as Scream 2 (1998) and Cursed (2005).
45. Russell Tovey
Out gay actor Russell Tovey has played a variety of high profile straight roles. (Dominik Bindl/Getty)
The out gay British actor played a number of high-profile straight TV roles, including George Sands in Being Human and Steve in Him & Her.
He has been open about his initial struggle to be accepted by his family when he came out in his late teens.
While continuing to land straight roles, such as The Ray in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, Tovey has also played gay characters in shows like Looking and Russell T Davies’ Years and Years.
46. Lily Tomlin
Grace and Frankie star Lily Tomlin married her long-term partner Jane Wagner in 2013. (Getty)
The star of Grace and Frankie married her long-term partner Jane Wagner in 2013 after more than 40 years together. On the hit Netflix show, Tomlin played Frankie Bergstein, a woman who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jane Fonda’s Grace Hanson after their husbands leave them for each other.
The Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner also played Vivian Jaffe in I Heart Huckabees (2004).
47. Matt Bomer
Matt Bomer shares three children with his husband Simon Halls. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Actor Matt Bomer came out publicly in 2012 and shares three sons with his partner Simon Halls, who he married in 2011. Prior to coming out, he made film appearances in noughties films including Flightplan (2005) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006).
After opening up publicly about his sexuality, Bomer has continued to play both straight and gay roles, such as in Magic Mike: XXL (2015) and The Boys in the Band (2020). On TV, Bomer is known for playing Neal Caffrey in White Collar and starring alongside Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Hotel.
Bomer also starred in Ryan Murphy’s 2014 TV adaptation of Larry Kramer’s classic 1985 AIDS stage play The Normal Heart.
48. Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Groff came out publicly in 2009. (Bruce Glikas/WireImage/Getty)
Glee star Groff played Jesse St. James, the love interest of Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) on the hit musical series. After coming out publicly in 2009, Groff dated Zachary Quinto, before the pair broke up in 2013.
He has since appeared alongside Russell Tovey in HBO’s LGBTQ+ drama Looking, and voiced the roles of Kristoff and Sven in Disney’s Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019). His most recent big screen appearance came opposite fellow out gay actor Ben Aldridge in M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin (2020).
49. Denis O’Hare
Denis O’Hare is best known for his roles in American Horror Story. (Rich Fury/Getty Images)
The American Horror Story star married his long-term partner Hugo Redwood in 2011 and the couple has one son.
He appeared in seven seasons of the horror anthology series, and also played notorious homophobe John Briggs in Dustin Lack Black’s 2008 biopic Milk, about San Francisco City Councillor and LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk.
Will Smith is just one Hollywood star featured in the list(Getty)
Here are just some of the straight Hollywood stars who have played gay or lesbian roles on the silver screen, as well as some of the out gay actors who have made a name for themselves playing it straight.
1. Ewan McGregor in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Ewan McGregor played gay prison inmate Phillip Morris in 2009’s I Love You Phillip Morris. (Keith Tsuji/Getty)
Ewan McGregor plays prison inmate Phillip Morris this black comedy based on the story of the real-life 1980s and 90s story of a con artist and repeated prison escapee Steven Jay Russell, played by Jim Carrey.
Phillip and Steven share a rollercoaster love story about forgiveness and ill health after the pair become romantically involved in prison.
After they are both released, Steven is caught embezzling and the pair are sent back to prison. Phillip is enraged by his actions and tells him that he does not want to see him again.
He later learns that Steven is dying of AIDS-related complications, and phones him to tell him that he is still mad but still loves him.
Steven later “dies” – but it turns out his illness is just another ruse so that he can get out of jail and see Phillip once more.
2. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game (2014)
Benedict Cumberbatch played Second World War code breaker Alan Turing in 2014’s The Imitation Game.(Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty)
Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing in the loosely biographical film about the gay mathematician who deciphered the ‘Enigma’ code during the Second World War.
The film follows Turing from his days as a bullied schoolboy to finally finding his feet when he develops a friendship with Christopher Morcom (Jack Bannon), who introduces him to cryptography.
As Turing becomes an expert in the subject, he also develops romantic feelings for Morcom, who dies suddenly and unexpectedly from tuberculosis.
Turing starts work at Bletchley Park after Britain declares war on Germany in 1939 and begins to work on the infamous Enigma machine which helps to break the Nazi’s secret military code.
In the 1950s, Turing is convicted of indecency and forced to undergo chemical castration. The film ends as one of his colleagues visits him and sees his physical and mental deterioration.
In real life, Turning took his own life in 1954, two years after his conviction.
3. James Wilby in Maurice (1987)
James Wilby played the titular character in 1987’s Maurice. (Mikki Ansin/Getty)
The acclaimed film adaptation of E. M. Forster’s 1971 novel charts the Edwardian-era love story of Cambridge University students Maurice Hall (played by James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant).
Maurice and Durham’s relationship grows closer after Maurice drops out of Cambridge to pursue a career as a stockbroker in London.
However, they break their relationship off after their close friend Lord Risley (Mark Tandy) is arrested and sentenced to six months hard labour for soliciting sex from a soldier.
Maurice undergoes gay “conversion” therapy but it is, obviously, unsuccessful and Maurice meets gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves) who he becomes intimate with.
The two flee England to live in a country where homosexuality is no longer criminalised, while Clive is left to reminisce about his relationship with Maurice.
4. Meryl Streep in The Hours (2002)
Meryl Streep played a lesbian woman in 2002’s The Hours. (Getty)
Meryl Streep stars in this 2002 film adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s 1999 novel as Clarissa Vaughan, a lesbian woman living in New York.
The film focuses on the stories of three different generations of women but Clarissa’s story is about her caring for a close friend and former lover who has contracted HIV and is dying from an AIDS-related illness.
Streep’s scenes centre around the character planning a party for him in his last days.
5. River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho (1991)
The late River Phoenix played a gay hustler in 1991’s My Own Private Idaho (George Rose/Getty)
The late River Phoenix stars as gay hustler Mike Waters in My Own Private Idaho, which is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Henriad’ series of plays; Henry IV parts one and two, and Henry V.
Phoenix’s character, Mike, suffers from narcolepsy and we follow his journey as he travels across the US from Oregon to Idaho in the search for his estranged mother.
He takes the journey with his close friend Scott (Keanu Reeves), and as they travel Mike behind to fall in love with him.
Their journey takes them to Italy, where Mike’s mother has migrated to search for her own family. While there, Mike realises that his mother has returned to the US but Scott falls in love with a woman. Mike returns to the US without him.
6. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
Tom Hanks at the premiere of Philadelphia. (Getty/Ron Galella)
Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a closeted gay lawyer who is a senior associate at one of the largest corporate law firms in the city.
While balancing his secret and professional lives, Beckett contracts AIDS.
Beckett is later fired and he believes that someone in his firm sabotaged him because of the diagnosis, and so he launches a lawsuit against the firm.
During the trial, he becomes weaker and is eventually hospitalised but the jury decides to rule in his favour and $5 million in damages is paid out to him.
Hanks has since said he would not take on the role today as a straight man, saying: “Could a straight man do what I did in Philadelphia now? No, and rightly so.”
7. Antonio Banderas in Philadelphia (1993)
Antonio Banderas (left) with Tom Hanks in 1993’s Philadelphia. (TriStar/Getty Images)
Antonio Banderas plays Miguel Álvarez, partner of Tom Hanks’ Andrew Beckett, in Philadelphia.
The award-winning drama was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge the HIV/AIDS Crisis and the implications it had for homophobia in society and the LGBTQ+ community.
Philadelphia marked Banderas’ big Hollywood breakthrough. He had previously played a gay man in Pedro Almodóvar‘s 1987 Spanish comedy thriller Law of Desire – a role which saw him kiss another man on screen for the first time.
8. James Franco in Milk (2008)
James Franco delivered an award-winning turn as LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk’s lover in 2008’s Milk. (Jason Merritt/Getty)
Milk is a biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk (played in the film by Sean Penn), who in 1977 became the first out gay person to be elected to public office in California.
Franco plays Scott Smith, Harvey Milk’s lover. Smith inspires Milk to move to San Francisco in hope of finding a community that accepts their relationship.
Smith serves as Milk’s campaign manager, but he grows frustrated with Milk’s devotion to politics, and he leaves him.
Milk was written by Dustin Lance Black, who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film in 2009. Black would go on to marry British Olympic diver Tom Daley in 2017.
9. Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015)
Eddie Redmayne played transgender pioneer Lili Elbe in 2015’s The Danish Girl. (Getty)
Redmayne plays trans landscape artist Lili Elbe in this Oscar-winning LGBTQ+ drama set in mid-1920s Copenhagen.
It is based the life of Danish painter Lili Elbe, who was one of the first known people to undergo gender affirmation surgery surgery.
The Danish Girl follows Lili as she comes to terms with her gender identity while being supported by her wife Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander).
She begins to seek help from doctors and meets one which offers to help her with gender affirmation surgery, but the artist tragically dies following complications with her second operation.
10. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking for its depiction of a gay relationship in a mainstream Hollywood film. (Screengrab/River Road Entertainment/Focus Features)
Gyllenhaal plays Jack Twist in director Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Annie Proulx’s 1997 novel.
Jack is working as rodeo cowboy in 1960s Wyoming hen he makes a pass at Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) after a night of heavy drinking, with the pair quickly developing a deep emotional and sexual relationship.
They part ways and go on to marry women, but after four years Jack visits Ennis and he tries to convince him that they should spend their lives together.
Instead, the lovers organise regular fishing trips where they can be together, but the story takes a tragic turn after Jack dies in what is implied to be a homophobic attack.
11. Dame Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal (2006)
Judi Dench played a schoolteacher with a homoerotic obsession in 2006’s Notes on a Scandal. (John Phillips/Getty)
Judi Dench plays lesbian history teacher Barbara Covett in the 2006 psychological thriller Notes on a Scandal.
It follows Barbara, a spinster and history teacher in London who takes comfort in writing in her diary. She begins to develop feelings for her new colleague, an art teacher named Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett).
However, things turn sour after Barbara realises that Sheba is having a relationship with an underage student, using this knowledge to manipulate her new friend.
After Barbara leaks the affair, both she and Sheba are fired. Sheba’s husband leaves her and the art teacher is sentenced to 10 months in prison, with the film ominiosuly ending with Barbara striking up conversation with another younger woman.
12. Julianne Moore in The Kids Are Alright (2010)
Julianne Moore played a lesbian parent in 2009’s The Kids Are Alright. (Elisabetta A. Villa/WireImage/Getty)
Julianne Moore plays Jules, a lesbian woman married to Nic (Annette Bening), who together have two children conceived using a sperm donor.
When the children get older they feel the need to contact the sperm bank to meet their donor father.
Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is revealed as the dad and he quickly becomes enthusiastic about being in his kids’ lives, however, the mothers don’t find out about their relationship straight away.
Jules and Nic invite Paul over and Jules and Paul click. Nic is still cold towards him as she feels his presence undermines her authority over their children.
Jules soon embarks on an affair with Paul, and while the whole family are at his house Nic finds her partner’s hair in his bed and bathroom.
Nic confronts her partner and the family fall out. It ends with the two mothers dropping their daughter off to start college, and shows them holding each other affectionately, suggesting they’ve overcome the infidelity.
13. Robin Williams in The Birdcage (1996)
Robin Williams played the owner of a drag club in 1996’s The Birdcage. (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty)
Williams plays the out gay owner of a South Beach drag club, Armand Goldman.
Goldman and his flamboyant partner Albert live together above the club and lead a lavish life together.
However, he is forced to play straight when his son’s future ultraconservative politician in-laws come to visit.
The gay couple uproots their life to pretend to be brothers as the family visit, but the night of the visit ends in turmoil as the conservative family are forced to dress in drag in order to escape the press.
14. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Heath Ledger played ranch hand Ennis del Mar in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain. (Peter Carrette Archive/Getty)
Ledger played Ennis del Mar, a ranch hand who falls in love with Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) while working together.
Despite their powerful connection, Ennis refuses to pursue a relationship with Jack as he is haunted by a childhood memory of the torture and murder of two men believed to be homosexual.
Their respective marriages to women (played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway) fall apart and while they still frequently see each other but begin to drift apart.
Ennis tries to reach out to Jack once more but is devastated to learn of his death, which he fears was a result of a homophobic attack.
15. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for his portrayal of gay writer Truman Capote in 2005’s Capote. (Michael Caulfield/WireImage/Getty)
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays gay author Truman Capote in the biographical film about his time writing the 1966 book In Cold Blood.
Capote becomes attached to two convicts who have been charged with killing the Clutter Family. He frequently visits them to try and understand the evening they were killed.
He develops a bond with convict Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and his soft tendencies, but the whole time he grows further away from his life at home.
16. Cher in Silkwood (1983)
Cher (right, pictured with Val Kilmer) was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 1983’s Silkwood. (Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty)
Cher plays the lesbian character Dolly Pelliker in Silkwood, a film about the life of Karen Silkwood, a nuclear whistleblower and labour union activist who died in mysterious circumstances
Silkwood was a plutonium factory worker and is played by Meryl Streep. Cher plays Dolly, Karen’s lesbian friend.
The film marked a turning point in the LGBTQ+ icon’s career as one of the more “serious” films she did.
17. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
Sean Penn (centre) won an Oscar for his portrayal of LGBTQ+ pioneer Harvey Milk in 2008’s Milk. (Getty)
Sean Penn plays the title character Harvey Milk in the film biopic which documents his political career, from his early failed political campaigns up until his assassination in 1978.
It also looks at his relationship with Scott Smith (James Franco) and Jack Lira (Diego Luna), as well as his working relationship with Dan White (Josh Brolin), a conservative supervisor on the San Francisco Board.
White eventually shoots Milk after he becomes enraged at the gay rights movement.
18. Charlize Theron in Monster (2003)
Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster. (Getty)
Charlize Theron plays the role of Aileen Wuornos, a real-life sex worker who was executed in 2002 for killing six men.
Theron received critical acclaim and won seventeen awards for her portrayal, including the Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress.
The biographical film follows Wournos after she kills a client that raped her and her attempts to get out of sex work.
However, her lack of qualifications and criminal history pushes her back into sex work, and she begins to rob and kill her clients as she suffers PTSD from the rape.
19. Christina Ricci in Monster (2003)
Christina Ricci starred opposite Charlize Theron in 2003’s Monster. (Getty)
Christina Ricci plays Selby Wall, the girlfriend of Aileen Wuornos in Monster.
The book which the film is adapted from is written by Tyria Moore (the real-life girlfriend of Wuornos who the character Selby Wall is based upon).
Wall lives off the money that Wuornos makes my robbing and killing her clients, without realising the crimes her partner was committing.
Wall eventually testifies against her partner, leading to a death sentence being handed to Wuornos.
20. Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Jim Carrey played gay con artist Steven Russell in 2009’s I Love You Philip Morris. (Getty)
Jim Carrey played Steven Jay Russell in the comedy-drama film about the prison escapee and con artist.
In prison, Russell falls in love with fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor).
When Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes to be with his lover.
21. Marlon Brando in Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Marlon Brandon played a sexually repressed solider in 1967’s Reflections in a Golden Eye. (Getty)
Marlon Brando plays a married soldier on an army base in the 1940s whose sexuality is repressed.
Brando was the fourth choice for the role after the original actor Montgomery Clift died. Richard Burton and Lee Marvin turned the role down before it was offered to the Oscar-winning actor.
Elizabeth Taylor co-starred as Brando’s wife.
The film, based on the 1941 novel by Carson McCullers, was largely unsuccessful at the box office.
22. Whoopi Goldberg in Boys On the Side (1995)
Whoopi Goldberg played lesbian musician Jane in 1995’s Boys On the Side. (Getty)
Whoopi Goldberg plays a lesbian lounge singer, Jane, on a road trip with Holly (Drew Barrymore) and Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) in this 1995 American comedy-drama directed by Herbert Ross.
Jane is in search of a new life after breaking up with her girlfriend and getting fired.
The threesome embarks on a cross-country road trip, forming a special friendship throughout the tragic but beautiful journey.
Jane falls in love with Robin, but she contracts HIV, and the three go their separate ways.
The film ends as Robin dies from AIDS-related complications, Holly starts a family, and Jane hits the road once more to seek a life of her own.
23. Hugh Grant in Maurice (1987)
Hugh Grant played gay Cambridge student Clive Durham in 1987’s Maurice. (Mikki Ansin/Getty)
The 1987 British romantic drama is based on the novel by E. M. Forster and is a classic gay love story set in the early 20th-century.
Grant plays the wealthy Clive Durham who confesses that he is attracted to Maurice (James Wilby), but the feelings go unreciprocated until they begin to develop an intimate relationship with each other.
Durham stops them from becoming sexually involved as he fears that his status as an upper-class member would be diminished if their relationship was found out.
24. Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Will Smith played gay con artist Paul in 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation. (Getty)
In this 1993 comedy-drama, Smith plays Paul, a gay con-artist who works his way around the Upper East Side with his charming charisma.
Paul befriends some of the richest New Yorkers and in turn, he schemes to live off their money.
The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play of the same name.
It was inspired by the real-life story of David Hampton, a con-man in 1980s New York who convinced the city’s elite that he was the son of a famous actor.
25. Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal of trans man Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty)
Swank plays a young trans man in this biographical film about Brandon Teena, a man who was brutally killed in a transphobic attack in 1993.
The film looks at the transphobia Teena had to deal with as people began to realise he was transgender.
He receives physical threats and gets into fights often leading him to move to Nebraska, where he meets his girlfriend Lana Tisdel (played by Chloë Sevigny) and befriends her brothers and friends.
Teena’s criminal past catches up with him and he is imprisoned and the group realise that he is transgender while going through documents.
Lana’s brothers become enraged, beating and gang-raping Teena before later killing him after he reports the incident to police.
26. Daniel Radcliffe in Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Daniel Radcliffe played gay poet Allen Ginsburg in the 2013 biopic Kill Your Darlings. (Getty/Slaven Vlasic)
He said that the gay kiss with co-star Dane DeHaan was ”sincere, passionate and romantic”, and joked that he would like to win an MTV award for it.
Actor, Daniel Radcliffe on the set of the film ‘Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire’, London, England, 2004 (Photo by Murray Close/ Getty Images)
The star also spoke in an interview about filming gay sex scenes for the film, saying that when filming an intimate scene, the director gave him “step-by-step” instructions.
He also joked that “gay sex, especially for the first time is really painful”.
27. Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch is best known for her role as Glee’s Sue Sylvester. (Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage)
It’s not just straight actors who have gone gay on-screen, gay actors have played against their off-screen sexuality also.
Well known for playing Sue Sylvester the sadistic coach on the hit show Glee, Lynch is a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.
She played a lesbian on-screen 2000’s Best in Show, but has also played an array of straight characters.
From Paula in The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) to Julia Child’s sister Dorothy in Julie and Julia (2009), this out gay actor has her fair share of straight roles under her belt.
28. Luke Evans
Welsh star Luke Evans has been out publicly since the start of his acting career. (Getty)
Out gay Welsh actor Luke Evans has made the transition to Hollywood leading man over the last decade and in 2017 he played the villainous Gaston in Disney’s live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
The star also played the boyfriend of bisexual actor Michelle Rodriguez’s character in the Fast and the Furious franchise.
He has also starred in hit films like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Raven (2012).
29. Rosie O’Donnell
Rosie O’Donnell came out publicly in 2002. (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty)
The comedian, actor and presenter came out publicly in 2002 and has since been a vocal champion of LGBTQ+ equality and a vocal critic of former US president Donald Trump.
She married her wife Michelle Rounds in 2012 but has played straight on the silver screen a number of times.
O’Donnell played Doris in A League of Their Own (1992)and Betty Rubble in The Flintstones in Viva Las Vegas (2000).
30. Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes came out publicly after marrying her wife Alex Niedbalski in 2008. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)
Comedian and actor Wanda Sykes came out publicly after marrying her wife Alex Niedbalski in 2008.
She has appeared in a number of big screen and TV roles, playing straight characters such as Biggie Shorty in Pootie Tang (2001).
Sykes also appeared alongside Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez in Monster-in-Law (2005) and has been a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights through her comedy and campaigning.
31. Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons played The Big bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper for 12 seasons. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
At one time rumoured to be the top paid out actor in Hollywood, Parsons played Sheldon Cooper on the The Big Bang Theory for 12 seasons from 2007-2019.
Parsons’ character was in a relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) for several seasons.
Sarah Paulson is currently in a relationship with actress Holland Taylor. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty)
The American Horror Story actor has played a number of straight characters in Ryan Murphy’s hit FX anthology series.
She also played a Christian who believes homosexuality is a sin in the short-lived 2006 TV drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, starring Friends’ Matthew Perry.
She dated actor Cherry Jones from 2004-09 and since 2015 has been in a relationship with actor Holland Taylor.
33. Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez came out publicly as bisexual in 2013. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty)
The Fast and the Furious star played straight character Letty in a number of the franchise’s films.
She came out publicly as bisexual in October 2013 and has since revealed that she dated Cara Delevingne.
Rodriguez got into some hot water when she defended her role in 2016’s controversial action film The Assignment, which saw her play an assassin who undergoes a ‘forced sex change’ at the hands of a crazed doctor, played by Sigourney Weaver.
34. Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris came out publicly in 2006. (Getty)
Neil Patrick Harris out publicly as gay since 2006, but it hasn’t stopped him playing straight roles on TV and film.
The star, who has a twin son and daughter with husband David Burtka, famously played straight womaiser Barney Stitson in TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
Upon coming out publicly in 2006, Harris said: “I am happy to dispel any rumours or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love”.
35. Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin has juggled acting with his singing career. (Getty)
The Puerto Rican singer and actor came out publicly as gay in 2010 following years of tabloid speculation around this sexuality.
He wrote on his website at the time: “These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed.”
Martin has played both gay and straight characters on TV. He played straight singer Miguez Morez on General Hospital from 1994-95 and later took on the role of Gianni Versace’s partner Antonio D’Amico in Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story in 2018.
36. Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller is best known for his role in TV action series Prison Break. (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
The Prison Break star came out publicly in 2013 when he posted a letter to the GLAAD website declining a place at a Russian film festival over the country’s persecution of LGBTQ+ people.
He played Michael Scofield in Prison Break from 2005-2009 before returning for a revived fifth season in 2017.
Miller has since been a strong advocate for mental health awareness, LGBTQ+ rights and other important causes, revealing in 2021 that he had been diagnosed with autism as an adult.
37. David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Pierce played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier between 1993 and 2004.
By the end of the show, Crane had a son and was married to a woman, but Pierce came out publicly as gay in 2007.
He married his partner Brian Hargrove in 2008, at which point the pair had already been together for 25 years.
38. Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon is best known for playing Miranda Hobbes on Sex and the City. (Getty/Dimitrios Kambouris)
The politician, activist and actor played Sex and the City‘s Miranda across six seasons, two movies and one spin-off.
Nixon was in a relationship with teacher Danny Mozes from 1988-2003, with whom she shares one child, who she revealed in 2018 is transgender.
She began dating education activist Christine Marinoni in 2004, with the couple marrying in 2012.
While Sex and the City’s Miranda was portrayed as straight duringthe series’ initial TV run and first two films, the show’s 2021 revival series And Just Like That… saw the character come to a new understanding regarding her sexuality after beginning a romance with non-binary YouTuber Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez).
39. Maria Bello
Mario Bello released a 2015 book exploring the theme of sexuality. (Getty)
Coyote Ugly star Maria Bello came out in 2013, but it never stopped her playing straight roles on the big screen.
She has since made appearances in films like The 5th Wave (2016), The Late Blooner (2016) and Lights Out (2016).
Bello has a son with her ex-boyfriend Dan McDermott, but has been in relationships with women including Clare Munn and chef Dominique Crenn.
In 2015 she published a book on the topic of sexuality entitled Whatever… Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves.
40. Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming is one of Hollywood’s most high-profile bisexual male actors. (Getty)
The bisexual X-Men star married his partner Grant Shaffer in 2007 and the pair renewed their vows in 2012.
Cumming has played a number of straight roles in his career, including Joe Therrian in The Anniversary Party (2001) and Sandy Frink in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997). But it hasn’t stopped him from being a powerful advocate for LGBT rights.
He has since starred in hit shows like The Good Wife and presented the US edition of hit reality competition The Traitors.
He was awarded an OBE honour by the Queen in 2009 but revealed in January 2023 that he had handed the award back due to the “toxicity” of the British Empire.
41. Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster publicly came out during the Golden Globes in 2013. (Jon Kopaloff/Getty)
After years of remaining publicly tight-lipped about her sexuality, Foster publicly came out in an acceptance speech at the Golden Globes in 2013.
She told the crowd: “I already did my coming out about 1,000 years ago back in the Stone Age, those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers, and then gradually and proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met.”
Throughout her career, Foster has played a number of straight roles, including Annabelle Bransford in Maverick (1994).
42. Zachary Quinto
Zachary Quinto came out publicly in 2011. (Brendon Thorne/Getty for Paramount Pictures)
The out gay star of Star Trek played a straight character in the film franchise, with Spock getting together with Ahura (played by Zoe Saldana).
Quinto came out publicly in 2011 and has played a number of roles in his career.
The LGBTQ+ rights advocate also took to the small screen in multiple seasons of Ryan Murphy’s chilling anthology series American Horror Story.
43. Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson kept the fact that he was gay a secret throughout his life. (Getty)
Although he didn’t come out publicly in his lifetime, it became well known that Rock Hudson had relationships with men.
He died of AIDS-related complications in 1985, becoming the first major celebrity to die from complications relating to the disease.
Throughout his career, the heartthrob appeared in heterosexual leading roles opposite stars like Doris Day, such as Brad Allen in Pillow Talk (1959) as Jerry Webster in Lover Come Back (1961), and as George in Send Me No Flowers (1964).
44. Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008. (Rich Fury/Getty)
The Australian-American actress’ most notable TV roles have been in Ally McBeal and as Lindsay Bluth Funke in Arrested Development, where her character was married to a man.
She married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008 and the couple are still going strong.
De Rossi has also made film appearances in motion pictures such as Scream 2 (1998) and Cursed (2005).
45. Russell Tovey
Out gay actor Russell Tovey has played a variety of high profile straight roles. (Dominik Bindl/Getty)
The out gay British actor played a number of high-profile straight TV roles, including George Sands in Being Human and Steve in Him & Her.
He has been open about his initial struggle to be accepted by his family when he came out in his late teens.
While continuing to land straight roles, such as The Ray in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, Tovey has also played gay characters in shows like Looking and Russell T Davies’ Years and Years.
46. Lily Tomlin
Grace and Frankie star Lily Tomlin married her long-term partner Jane Wagner in 2013. (Getty)
The star of Grace and Frankie married her long-term partner Jane Wagner in 2013 after more than 40 years together. On the hit Netflix show, Tomlin played Frankie Bergstein, a woman who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jane Fonda’s Grace Hanson after their husbands leave them for each other.
The Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner also played Vivian Jaffe in I Heart Huckabees (2004).
47. Matt Bomer
Matt Bomer shares three children with his husband Simon Halls. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Actor Matt Bomer came out publicly in 2012 and shares three sons with his partner Simon Halls, who he married in 2011. Prior to coming out, he made film appearances in noughties films including Flightplan (2005) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006).
After opening up publicly about his sexuality, Bomer has continued to play both straight and gay roles, such as in Magic Mike: XXL (2015) and The Boys in the Band (2020). On TV, Bomer is known for playing Neal Caffrey in White Collar and starring alongside Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Hotel.
Bomer also starred in Ryan Murphy’s 2014 TV adaptation of Larry Kramer’s classic 1985 AIDS stage play The Normal Heart.
48. Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Groff came out publicly in 2009. (Bruce Glikas/WireImage/Getty)
Glee star Groff played Jesse St. James, the love interest of Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) on the hit musical series. After coming out publicly in 2009, Groff dated Zachary Quinto, before the pair broke up in 2013.
He has since appeared alongside Russell Tovey in HBO’s LGBTQ+ drama Looking, and voiced the roles of Kristoff and Sven in Disney’s Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019). His most recent big screen appearance came opposite fellow out gay actor Ben Aldridge in M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin (2020).
49. Denis O’Hare
Denis O’Hare is best known for his roles in American Horror Story. (Rich Fury/Getty Images)
The American Horror Story star married his long-term partner Hugo Redwood in 2011 and the couple has one son.
He appeared in seven seasons of the horror anthology series, and also played notorious homophobe John Briggs in Dustin Lack Black’s 2008 biopic Milk, about San Francisco City Councillor and LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk.
Here are just some of the straight Hollywood stars who have played gay or lesbian roles on the silver screen, as well as some of the out gay actors who have made a name for themselves playing it straight.
1. Ewan McGregor in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Ewan McGregor played gay prison inmate Phillip Morris in 2009’s I Love You Phillip Morris. (Keith Tsuji/Getty)
Ewan McGregor plays prison inmate Phillip Morris this black comedy based on the story of the real-life 1980s and 90s story of a con artist and repeated prison escapee Steven Jay Russell, played by Jim Carrey.
Phillip and Steven share a rollercoaster love story about forgiveness and ill health after the pair become romantically involved in prison.
After they are both released, Steven is caught embezzling and the pair are sent back to prison. Phillip is enraged by his actions and tells him that he does not want to see him again.
He later learns that Steven is dying of AIDS-related complications, and phones him to tell him that he is still mad but still loves him.
Steven later “dies” – but it turns out his illness is just another ruse so that he can get out of jail and see Phillip once more.
2. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game (2014)
Benedict Cumberbatch played Second World War code breaker Alan Turing in 2014’s The Imitation Game.(Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty)
Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing in the loosely biographical film about the gay mathematician who deciphered the ‘Enigma’ code during the Second World War.
The film follows Turing from his days as a bullied schoolboy to finally finding his feet when he develops a friendship with Christopher Morcom (Jack Bannon), who introduces him to cryptography.
As Turing becomes an expert in the subject, he also develops romantic feelings for Morcom, who dies suddenly and unexpectedly from tuberculosis.
Turing starts work at Bletchley Park after Britain declares war on Germany in 1939 and begins to work on the infamous Enigma machine which helps to break the Nazi’s secret military code.
In the 1950s, Turing is convicted of indecency and forced to undergo chemical castration. The film ends as one of his colleagues visits him and sees his physical and mental deterioration.
In real life, Turning took his own life in 1954, two years after his conviction.
3. James Wilby in Maurice (1987)
James Wilby played the titular character in 1987’s Maurice. (Mikki Ansin/Getty)
The acclaimed film adaptation of E. M. Forster’s 1971 novel charts the Edwardian-era love story of Cambridge University students Maurice Hall (played by James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant).
Maurice and Durham’s relationship grows closer after Maurice drops out of Cambridge to pursue a career as a stockbroker in London.
However, they break their relationship off after their close friend Lord Risley (Mark Tandy) is arrested and sentenced to six months hard labour for soliciting sex from a soldier.
Maurice undergoes gay “conversion” therapy but it is, obviously, unsuccessful and Maurice meets gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves) who he becomes intimate with.
The two flee England to live in a country where homosexuality is no longer criminalised, while Clive is left to reminisce about his relationship with Maurice.
4. Meryl Streep in The Hours (2002)
Meryl Streep played a lesbian woman in 2002’s The Hours. (Getty)
Meryl Streep stars in this 2002 film adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s 1999 novel as Clarissa Vaughan, a lesbian woman living in New York.
The film focuses on the stories of three different generations of women but Clarissa’s story is about her caring for a close friend and former lover who has contracted HIV and is dying from an AIDS-related illness.
Streep’s scenes centre around the character planning a party for him in his last days.
5. River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho (1991)
The late River Phoenix played a gay hustler in 1991’s My Own Private Idaho (George Rose/Getty)
The late River Phoenix stars as gay hustler Mike Waters in My Own Private Idaho, which is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Henriad’ series of plays; Henry IV parts one and two, and Henry V.
Phoenix’s character, Mike, suffers from narcolepsy and we follow his journey as he travels across the US from Oregon to Idaho in the search for his estranged mother.
He takes the journey with his close friend Scott (Keanu Reeves), and as they travel Mike behind to fall in love with him.
Their journey takes them to Italy, where Mike’s mother has migrated to search for her own family. While there, Mike realises that his mother has returned to the US but Scott falls in love with a woman. Mike returns to the US without him.
6. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
Tom Hanks at the premiere of Philadelphia. (Getty/Ron Galella)
Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a closeted gay lawyer who is a senior associate at one of the largest corporate law firms in the city.
While balancing his secret and professional lives, Beckett contracts AIDS.
Beckett is later fired and he believes that someone in his firm sabotaged him because of the diagnosis, and so he launches a lawsuit against the firm.
During the trial, he becomes weaker and is eventually hospitalised but the jury decides to rule in his favour and $5 million in damages is paid out to him.
Hanks has since said he would not take on the role today as a straight man, saying: “Could a straight man do what I did in Philadelphia now? No, and rightly so.”
7. Antonio Banderas in Philadelphia (1993)
Antonio Banderas (left) with Tom Hanks in 1993’s Philadelphia. (TriStar/Getty Images)
Antonio Banderas plays Miguel Álvarez, partner of Tom Hanks’ Andrew Beckett, in Philadelphia.
The award-winning drama was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge the HIV/AIDS Crisis and the implications it had for homophobia in society and the LGBTQ+ community.
Philadelphia marked Banderas’ big Hollywood breakthrough. He had previously played a gay man in Pedro Almodóvar‘s 1987 Spanish comedy thriller Law of Desire – a role which saw him kiss another man on screen for the first time.
8. James Franco in Milk (2008)
James Franco delivered an award-winning turn as LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk’s lover in 2008’s Milk. (Jason Merritt/Getty)
Milk is a biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk (played in the film by Sean Penn), who in 1977 became the first out gay person to be elected to public office in California.
Franco plays Scott Smith, Harvey Milk’s lover. Smith inspires Milk to move to San Francisco in hope of finding a community that accepts their relationship.
Smith serves as Milk’s campaign manager, but he grows frustrated with Milk’s devotion to politics, and he leaves him.
Milk was written by Dustin Lance Black, who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film in 2009. Black would go on to marry British Olympic diver Tom Daley in 2017.
9. Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015)
Eddie Redmayne played transgender pioneer Lili Elbe in 2015’s The Danish Girl. (Getty)
Redmayne plays trans landscape artist Lili Elbe in this Oscar-winning LGBTQ+ drama set in mid-1920s Copenhagen.
It is based the life of Danish painter Lili Elbe, who was one of the first known people to undergo gender affirmation surgery surgery.
The Danish Girl follows Lili as she comes to terms with her gender identity while being supported by her wife Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander).
She begins to seek help from doctors and meets one which offers to help her with gender affirmation surgery, but the artist tragically dies following complications with her second operation.
10. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking for its depiction of a gay relationship in a mainstream Hollywood film. (Screengrab/River Road Entertainment/Focus Features)
Gyllenhaal plays Jack Twist in director Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Annie Proulx’s 1997 novel.
Jack is working as rodeo cowboy in 1960s Wyoming hen he makes a pass at Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) after a night of heavy drinking, with the pair quickly developing a deep emotional and sexual relationship.
They part ways and go on to marry women, but after four years Jack visits Ennis and he tries to convince him that they should spend their lives together.
Instead, the lovers organise regular fishing trips where they can be together, but the story takes a tragic turn after Jack dies in what is implied to be a homophobic attack.
11. Dame Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal (2006)
Judi Dench played a schoolteacher with a homoerotic obsession in 2006’s Notes on a Scandal. (John Phillips/Getty)
Judi Dench plays lesbian history teacher Barbara Covett in the 2006 psychological thriller Notes on a Scandal.
It follows Barbara, a spinster and history teacher in London who takes comfort in writing in her diary. She begins to develop feelings for her new colleague, an art teacher named Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett).
However, things turn sour after Barbara realises that Sheba is having a relationship with an underage student, using this knowledge to manipulate her new friend.
After Barbara leaks the affair, both she and Sheba are fired. Sheba’s husband leaves her and the art teacher is sentenced to 10 months in prison, with the film ominiosuly ending with Barbara striking up conversation with another younger woman.
12. Julianne Moore in The Kids Are Alright (2010)
Julianne Moore played a lesbian parent in 2009’s The Kids Are Alright. (Elisabetta A. Villa/WireImage/Getty)
Julianne Moore plays Jules, a lesbian woman married to Nic (Annette Bening), who together have two children conceived using a sperm donor.
When the children get older they feel the need to contact the sperm bank to meet their donor father.
Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is revealed as the dad and he quickly becomes enthusiastic about being in his kids’ lives, however, the mothers don’t find out about their relationship straight away.
Jules and Nic invite Paul over and Jules and Paul click. Nic is still cold towards him as she feels his presence undermines her authority over their children.
Jules soon embarks on an affair with Paul, and while the whole family are at his house Nic finds her partner’s hair in his bed and bathroom.
Nic confronts her partner and the family fall out. It ends with the two mothers dropping their daughter off to start college, and shows them holding each other affectionately, suggesting they’ve overcome the infidelity.
13. Robin Williams in The Birdcage (1996)
Robin Williams played the owner of a drag club in 1996’s The Birdcage. (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty)
Williams plays the out gay owner of a South Beach drag club, Armand Goldman.
Goldman and his flamboyant partner Albert live together above the club and lead a lavish life together.
However, he is forced to play straight when his son’s future ultraconservative politician in-laws come to visit.
The gay couple uproots their life to pretend to be brothers as the family visit, but the night of the visit ends in turmoil as the conservative family are forced to dress in drag in order to escape the press.
14. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Heath Ledger played ranch hand Ennis del Mar in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain. (Peter Carrette Archive/Getty)
Ledger played Ennis del Mar, a ranch hand who falls in love with Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) while working together.
Despite their powerful connection, Ennis refuses to pursue a relationship with Jack as he is haunted by a childhood memory of the torture and murder of two men believed to be homosexual.
Their respective marriages to women (played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway) fall apart and while they still frequently see each other but begin to drift apart.
Ennis tries to reach out to Jack once more but is devastated to learn of his death, which he fears was a result of a homophobic attack.
15. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for his portrayal of gay writer Truman Capote in 2005’s Capote. (Michael Caulfield/WireImage/Getty)
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays gay author Truman Capote in the biographical film about his time writing the 1966 book In Cold Blood.
Capote becomes attached to two convicts who have been charged with killing the Clutter Family. He frequently visits them to try and understand the evening they were killed.
He develops a bond with convict Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and his soft tendencies, but the whole time he grows further away from his life at home.
16. Cher in Silkwood (1983)
Cher (right, pictured with Val Kilmer) was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 1983’s Silkwood. (Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty)
Cher plays the lesbian character Dolly Pelliker in Silkwood, a film about the life of Karen Silkwood, a nuclear whistleblower and labour union activist who died in mysterious circumstances
Silkwood was a plutonium factory worker and is played by Meryl Streep. Cher plays Dolly, Karen’s lesbian friend.
The film marked a turning point in the LGBTQ+ icon’s career as one of the more “serious” films she did.
17. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
Sean Penn (centre) won an Oscar for his portrayal of LGBTQ+ pioneer Harvey Milk in 2008’s Milk. (Getty)
Sean Penn plays the title character Harvey Milk in the film biopic which documents his political career, from his early failed political campaigns up until his assassination in 1978.
It also looks at his relationship with Scott Smith (James Franco) and Jack Lira (Diego Luna), as well as his working relationship with Dan White (Josh Brolin), a conservative supervisor on the San Francisco Board.
White eventually shoots Milk after he becomes enraged at the gay rights movement.
18. Charlize Theron in Monster (2003)
Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster. (Getty)
Charlize Theron plays the role of Aileen Wuornos, a real-life sex worker who was executed in 2002 for killing six men.
Theron received critical acclaim and won seventeen awards for her portrayal, including the Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress.
The biographical film follows Wournos after she kills a client that raped her and her attempts to get out of sex work.
However, her lack of qualifications and criminal history pushes her back into sex work, and she begins to rob and kill her clients as she suffers PTSD from the rape.
19. Christina Ricci in Monster (2003)
Christina Ricci starred opposite Charlize Theron in 2003’s Monster. (Getty)
Christina Ricci plays Selby Wall, the girlfriend of Aileen Wuornos in Monster.
The book which the film is adapted from is written by Tyria Moore (the real-life girlfriend of Wuornos who the character Selby Wall is based upon).
Wall lives off the money that Wuornos makes my robbing and killing her clients, without realising the crimes her partner was committing.
Wall eventually testifies against her partner, leading to a death sentence being handed to Wuornos.
20. Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Jim Carrey played gay con artist Steven Russell in 2009’s I Love You Philip Morris. (Getty)
Jim Carrey played Steven Jay Russell in the comedy-drama film about the prison escapee and con artist.
In prison, Russell falls in love with fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor).
When Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes to be with his lover.
21. Marlon Brando in Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Marlon Brandon played a sexually repressed solider in 1967’s Reflections in a Golden Eye. (Getty)
Marlon Brando plays a married soldier on an army base in the 1940s whose sexuality is repressed.
Brando was the fourth choice for the role after the original actor Montgomery Clift died. Richard Burton and Lee Marvin turned the role down before it was offered to the Oscar-winning actor.
Elizabeth Taylor co-starred as Brando’s wife.
The film, based on the 1941 novel by Carson McCullers, was largely unsuccessful at the box office.
22. Whoopi Goldberg in Boys On the Side (1995)
Whoopi Goldberg played lesbian musician Jane in 1995’s Boys On the Side. (Getty)
Whoopi Goldberg plays a lesbian lounge singer, Jane, on a road trip with Holly (Drew Barrymore) and Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) in this 1995 American comedy-drama directed by Herbert Ross.
Jane is in search of a new life after breaking up with her girlfriend and getting fired.
The threesome embarks on a cross-country road trip, forming a special friendship throughout the tragic but beautiful journey.
Jane falls in love with Robin, but she contracts HIV, and the three go their separate ways.
The film ends as Robin dies from AIDS-related complications, Holly starts a family, and Jane hits the road once more to seek a life of her own.
23. Hugh Grant in Maurice (1987)
Hugh Grant played gay Cambridge student Clive Durham in 1987’s Maurice. (Mikki Ansin/Getty)
The 1987 British romantic drama is based on the novel by E. M. Forster and is a classic gay love story set in the early 20th-century.
Grant plays the wealthy Clive Durham who confesses that he is attracted to Maurice (James Wilby), but the feelings go unreciprocated until they begin to develop an intimate relationship with each other.
Durham stops them from becoming sexually involved as he fears that his status as an upper-class member would be diminished if their relationship was found out.
24. Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Will Smith played gay con artist Paul in 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation. (Getty)
In this 1993 comedy-drama, Smith plays Paul, a gay con-artist who works his way around the Upper East Side with his charming charisma.
Paul befriends some of the richest New Yorkers and in turn, he schemes to live off their money.
The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play of the same name.
It was inspired by the real-life story of David Hampton, a con-man in 1980s New York who convinced the city’s elite that he was the son of a famous actor.
25. Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal of trans man Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty)
Swank plays a young trans man in this biographical film about Brandon Teena, a man who was brutally killed in a transphobic attack in 1993.
The film looks at the transphobia Teena had to deal with as people began to realise he was transgender.
He receives physical threats and gets into fights often leading him to move to Nebraska, where he meets his girlfriend Lana Tisdel (played by Chloë Sevigny) and befriends her brothers and friends.
Teena’s criminal past catches up with him and he is imprisoned and the group realise that he is transgender while going through documents.
Lana’s brothers become enraged, beating and gang-raping Teena before later killing him after he reports the incident to police.
26. Daniel Radcliffe in Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Daniel Radcliffe played gay poet Allen Ginsburg in the 2013 biopic Kill Your Darlings. (Getty/Slaven Vlasic)
He said that the gay kiss with co-star Dane DeHaan was ”sincere, passionate and romantic”, and joked that he would like to win an MTV award for it.
Actor, Daniel Radcliffe on the set of the film ‘Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire’, London, England, 2004 (Photo by Murray Close/ Getty Images)
The star also spoke in an interview about filming gay sex scenes for the film, saying that when filming an intimate scene, the director gave him “step-by-step” instructions.
He also joked that “gay sex, especially for the first time is really painful”.
27. Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch is best known for her role as Glee’s Sue Sylvester. (Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage)
It’s not just straight actors who have gone gay on-screen, gay actors have played against their off-screen sexuality also.
Well known for playing Sue Sylvester the sadistic coach on the hit show Glee, Lynch is a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.
She played a lesbian on-screen 2000’s Best in Show, but has also played an array of straight characters.
From Paula in The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) to Julia Child’s sister Dorothy in Julie and Julia (2009), this out gay actor has her fair share of straight roles under her belt.
28. Luke Evans
Welsh star Luke Evans has been out publicly since the start of his acting career. (Getty)
Out gay Welsh actor Luke Evans has made the transition to Hollywood leading man over the last decade and in 2017 he played the villainous Gaston in Disney’s live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
The star also played the boyfriend of bisexual actor Michelle Rodriguez’s character in the Fast and the Furious franchise.
He has also starred in hit films like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Raven (2012).
29. Rosie O’Donnell
Rosie O’Donnell came out publicly in 2002. (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty)
The comedian, actor and presenter came out publicly in 2002 and has since been a vocal champion of LGBTQ+ equality and a vocal critic of former US president Donald Trump.
She married her wife Michelle Rounds in 2012 but has played straight on the silver screen a number of times.
O’Donnell played Doris in A League of Their Own (1992)and Betty Rubble in The Flintstones in Viva Las Vegas (2000).
30. Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes came out publicly after marrying her wife Alex Niedbalski in 2008. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)
Comedian and actor Wanda Sykes came out publicly after marrying her wife Alex Niedbalski in 2008.
She has appeared in a number of big screen and TV roles, playing straight characters such as Biggie Shorty in Pootie Tang (2001).
Sykes also appeared alongside Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez in Monster-in-Law (2005) and has been a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights through her comedy and campaigning.
31. Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons played The Big bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper for 12 seasons. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
At one time rumoured to be the top paid out actor in Hollywood, Parsons played Sheldon Cooper on the The Big Bang Theory for 12 seasons from 2007-2019.
Parsons’ character was in a relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) for several seasons.
Sarah Paulson is currently in a relationship with actress Holland Taylor. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty)
The American Horror Story actor has played a number of straight characters in Ryan Murphy’s hit FX anthology series.
She also played a Christian who believes homosexuality is a sin in the short-lived 2006 TV drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, starring Friends’ Matthew Perry.
She dated actor Cherry Jones from 2004-09 and since 2015 has been in a relationship with actor Holland Taylor.
33. Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez came out publicly as bisexual in 2013. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty)
The Fast and the Furious star played straight character Letty in a number of the franchise’s films.
She came out publicly as bisexual in October 2013 and has since revealed that she dated Cara Delevingne.
Rodriguez got into some hot water when she defended her role in 2016’s controversial action film The Assignment, which saw her play an assassin who undergoes a ‘forced sex change’ at the hands of a crazed doctor, played by Sigourney Weaver.
34. Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris came out publicly in 2006. (Getty)
Neil Patrick Harris out publicly as gay since 2006, but it hasn’t stopped him playing straight roles on TV and film.
The star, who has a twin son and daughter with husband David Burtka, famously played straight womaiser Barney Stitson in TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
Upon coming out publicly in 2006, Harris said: “I am happy to dispel any rumours or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love”.
35. Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin has juggled acting with his singing career. (Getty)
The Puerto Rican singer and actor came out publicly as gay in 2010 following years of tabloid speculation around this sexuality.
He wrote on his website at the time: “These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed.”
Martin has played both gay and straight characters on TV. He played straight singer Miguez Morez on General Hospital from 1994-95 and later took on the role of Gianni Versace’s partner Antonio D’Amico in Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story in 2018.
36. Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller is best known for his role in TV action series Prison Break. (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
The Prison Break star came out publicly in 2013 when he posted a letter to the GLAAD website declining a place at a Russian film festival over the country’s persecution of LGBTQ+ people.
He played Michael Scofield in Prison Break from 2005-2009 before returning for a revived fifth season in 2017.
Miller has since been a strong advocate for mental health awareness, LGBTQ+ rights and other important causes, revealing in 2021 that he had been diagnosed with autism as an adult.
37. David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Pierce played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier between 1993 and 2004.
By the end of the show, Crane had a son and was married to a woman, but Pierce came out publicly as gay in 2007.
He married his partner Brian Hargrove in 2008, at which point the pair had already been together for 25 years.
38. Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon is best known for playing Miranda Hobbes on Sex and the City. (Getty/Dimitrios Kambouris)
The politician, activist and actor played Sex and the City‘s Miranda across six seasons, two movies and one spin-off.
Nixon was in a relationship with teacher Danny Mozes from 1988-2003, with whom she shares one child, who she revealed in 2018 is transgender.
She began dating education activist Christine Marinoni in 2004, with the couple marrying in 2012.
While Sex and the City’s Miranda was portrayed as straight duringthe series’ initial TV run and first two films, the show’s 2021 revival series And Just Like That… saw the character come to a new understanding regarding her sexuality after beginning a romance with non-binary YouTuber Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez).
39. Maria Bello
Mario Bello released a 2015 book exploring the theme of sexuality. (Getty)
Coyote Ugly star Maria Bello came out in 2013, but it never stopped her playing straight roles on the big screen.
She has since made appearances in films like The 5th Wave (2016), The Late Blooner (2016) and Lights Out (2016).
Bello has a son with her ex-boyfriend Dan McDermott, but has been in relationships with women including Clare Munn and chef Dominique Crenn.
In 2015 she published a book on the topic of sexuality entitled Whatever… Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves.
40. Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming is one of Hollywood’s most high-profile bisexual male actors. (Getty)
The bisexual X-Men star married his partner Grant Shaffer in 2007 and the pair renewed their vows in 2012.
Cumming has played a number of straight roles in his career, including Joe Therrian in The Anniversary Party (2001) and Sandy Frink in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997). But it hasn’t stopped him from being a powerful advocate for LGBT rights.
He has since starred in hit shows like The Good Wife and presented the US edition of hit reality competition The Traitors.
He was awarded an OBE honour by the Queen in 2009 but revealed in January 2023 that he had handed the award back due to the “toxicity” of the British Empire.
41. Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster publicly came out during the Golden Globes in 2013. (Jon Kopaloff/Getty)
After years of remaining publicly tight-lipped about her sexuality, Foster publicly came out in an acceptance speech at the Golden Globes in 2013.
She told the crowd: “I already did my coming out about 1,000 years ago back in the Stone Age, those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers, and then gradually and proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met.”
Throughout her career, Foster has played a number of straight roles, including Annabelle Bransford in Maverick (1994).
42. Zachary Quinto
Zachary Quinto came out publicly in 2011. (Brendon Thorne/Getty for Paramount Pictures)
The out gay star of Star Trek played a straight character in the film franchise, with Spock getting together with Ahura (played by Zoe Saldana).
Quinto came out publicly in 2011 and has played a number of roles in his career.
The LGBTQ+ rights advocate also took to the small screen in multiple seasons of Ryan Murphy’s chilling anthology series American Horror Story.
43. Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson kept the fact that he was gay a secret throughout his life. (Getty)
Although he didn’t come out publicly in his lifetime, it became well known that Rock Hudson had relationships with men.
He died of AIDS-related complications in 1985, becoming the first major celebrity to die from complications relating to the disease.
Throughout his career, the heartthrob appeared in heterosexual leading roles opposite stars like Doris Day, such as Brad Allen in Pillow Talk (1959) as Jerry Webster in Lover Come Back (1961), and as George in Send Me No Flowers (1964).
44. Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008. (Rich Fury/Getty)
The Australian-American actress’ most notable TV roles have been in Ally McBeal and as Lindsay Bluth Funke in Arrested Development, where her character was married to a man.
She married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008 and the couple are still going strong.
De Rossi has also made film appearances in motion pictures such as Scream 2 (1998) and Cursed (2005).
45. Russell Tovey
Out gay actor Russell Tovey has played a variety of high profile straight roles. (Dominik Bindl/Getty)
The out gay British actor played a number of high-profile straight TV roles, including George Sands in Being Human and Steve in Him & Her.
He has been open about his initial struggle to be accepted by his family when he came out in his late teens.
While continuing to land straight roles, such as The Ray in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, Tovey has also played gay characters in shows like Looking and Russell T Davies’ Years and Years.
46. Lily Tomlin
Grace and Frankie star Lily Tomlin married her long-term partner Jane Wagner in 2013. (Getty)
The star of Grace and Frankie married her long-term partner Jane Wagner in 2013 after more than 40 years together. On the hit Netflix show, Tomlin played Frankie Bergstein, a woman who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jane Fonda’s Grace Hanson after their husbands leave them for each other.
The Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner also played Vivian Jaffe in I Heart Huckabees (2004).
47. Matt Bomer
Matt Bomer shares three children with his husband Simon Halls. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Actor Matt Bomer came out publicly in 2012 and shares three sons with his partner Simon Halls, who he married in 2011. Prior to coming out, he made film appearances in noughties films including Flightplan (2005) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006).
After opening up publicly about his sexuality, Bomer has continued to play both straight and gay roles, such as in Magic Mike: XXL (2015) and The Boys in the Band (2020). On TV, Bomer is known for playing Neal Caffrey in White Collar and starring alongside Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Hotel.
Bomer also starred in Ryan Murphy’s 2014 TV adaptation of Larry Kramer’s classic 1985 AIDS stage play The Normal Heart.
48. Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Groff came out publicly in 2009. (Bruce Glikas/WireImage/Getty)
Glee star Groff played Jesse St. James, the love interest of Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) on the hit musical series. After coming out publicly in 2009, Groff dated Zachary Quinto, before the pair broke up in 2013.
He has since appeared alongside Russell Tovey in HBO’s LGBTQ+ drama Looking, and voiced the roles of Kristoff and Sven in Disney’s Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019). His most recent big screen appearance came opposite fellow out gay actor Ben Aldridge in M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin (2020).
49. Denis O’Hare
Denis O’Hare is best known for his roles in American Horror Story. (Rich Fury/Getty Images)
The American Horror Story star married his long-term partner Hugo Redwood in 2011 and the couple has one son.
He appeared in seven seasons of the horror anthology series, and also played notorious homophobe John Briggs in Dustin Lack Black’s 2008 biopic Milk, about San Francisco City Councillor and LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk.
Actors, Daniel Radcliffe, (L) Emma Watson (M) and Rupert Grant (R) on the set of the film, ‘Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire’, London, England, 2005 (Photo by Murray Close/ Getty Images)
Films provide an important voice for LGBTQ+ people as they offer much-needed representation in the media, and actors do a vital job bringing the stories of queer characters to life.
However, very few high-profile LGBTQ+ roles are actually played by out LGBTQ+ actors. Actors who are open about their sexuality often struggle to carve a successful career path for themselves – a fact that is not helped by their heterosexual counterparts filling up roles that some might argue should be reserved for them.
Here are just some of the Hollywood stars who have played gay or lesbian roles on the silver screen, as well as some of the out gay actors who have made a name for themselves playing it straight.
1. Ewan McGregor in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Ewan McGregor played gay prison inmate Phillip Morris in 2009’s I Love You Phillip Morris. (Keith Tsuji/Getty)
Ewan McGregor plays prison inmate Phillip Morris this black comedy based on the story of the real-life 1980s and 90s story of a con artist and repeated prison escapee Steven Jay Russell, played by Jim Carrey.
Phillip and Steven share a rollercoaster love story about forgiveness and ill health after the pair become romantically involved in prison.
After they are both released, Steven is caught embezzling and the pair are sent back to prison. Phillip is enraged by his actions and tells him that he does not want to see him again.
He later learns that Steven is dying of AIDS-related complications, and phones him to tell him that he is still mad but still loves him.
Steven later “dies” – but it turns out his illness is just another ruse so that he can get out of jail and see Phillip once more.
2. Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game (2014)
Benedict Cumberbatch played Second World War code breaker Alan Turing in 2014’s The Imitation Game.(Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty)
Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing in the loosely biographical film about the gay mathematician who deciphered the ‘Enigma’ code during the Second World War.
The film follows Turing from his days as a bullied schoolboy to finally finding his feet when he develops a friendship with Christopher Morcom (Jack Bannon), who introduces him to cryptography.
As Turing becomes an expert in the subject, he also develops romantic feelings for Morcom, who dies suddenly and unexpectedly from tuberculosis.
Turing starts work at Bletchley Park after Britain declares war on Germany in 1939 and begins to work on the infamous Enigma machine which helps to break the Nazi’s secret military code.
In the 1950s, Turing is convicted of indecency and forced to undergo chemical castration. The film ends as one of his colleagues visits him and sees his physical and mental deterioration.
In real life, Turning took his own life in 1954, two years after his conviction.
3. James Wilby in Maurice (1987)
James Wilby played the titular character in 1987’s Maurice. (Mikki Ansin/Getty)
The acclaimed film adaptation of E. M. Forster’s 1971 novel charts the Edwardian-era love story of Cambridge University students Maurice Hall (played by James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant).
Maurice and Durham’s relationship grows closer after Maurice drops out of Cambridge to pursue a career as a stockbroker in London.
However, they break their relationship off after their close friend Lord Risley (Mark Tandy) is arrested and sentenced to six months hard labour for soliciting sex from a soldier.
Maurice undergoes gay “conversion” therapy but it is, obviously, unsuccessful and Maurice meets gamekeeper Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves) who he becomes intimate with.
The two flee England to live in a country where homosexuality is no longer criminalised, while Clive is left to reminisce about his relationship with Maurice.
4. Meryl Streep in The Hours (2002)
Meryl Streep played a lesbian woman in 2002’s The Hours. (Getty)
Meryl Streep stars in this 2002 film adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s 1999 novel as Clarissa Vaughan, a lesbian woman living in New York.
The film focuses on the stories of three different generations of women but Clarissa’s story is about her caring for a close friend and former lover who has contracted HIV and is dying from an AIDS-related illness.
Streep’s scenes centre around the character planning a party for him in his last days.
5. River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho (1991)
The late River Phoenix played a gay hustler in 1991’s My Own Private Idaho (George Rose/Getty)
The late River Phoenix stars as gay hustler Mike Waters in My Own Private Idaho, which is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Henriad’ series of plays; Henry IV parts one and two, and Henry V.
Phoenix’s character, Mike, suffers from narcolepsy and we follow his journey as he travels across the US from Oregon to Idaho in the search for his estranged mother.
He takes the journey with his close friend Scott (Keanu Reeves), and as they travel Mike behind to fall in love with him.
Their journey takes them to Italy, where Mike’s mother has migrated to search for her own family. While there, Mike realises that his mother has returned to the US but Scott falls in love with a woman. Mike returns to the US without him.
6. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993)
Tom Hanks at the premiere of Philadelphia. (Getty/Ron Galella)
Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a closeted gay lawyer who is a senior associate at one of the largest corporate law firms in the city.
While balancing his secret and professional lives, Beckett contracts AIDS.
Beckett is later fired and he believes that someone in his firm sabotaged him because of the diagnosis, and so he launches a lawsuit against the firm.
During the trial, he becomes weaker and is eventually hospitalised but the jury decides to rule in his favour and $5 million in damages is paid out to him.
Hanks has since said he would not take on the role today as a straight man, saying: “Could a straight man do what I did in Philadelphia now? No, and rightly so.”
7. Antonio Banderas in Philadelphia (1993)
Antonio Banderas (left) with Tom Hanks in 1993’s Philadelphia. (TriStar/Getty Images)
Antonio Banderas plays Miguel Álvarez, partner of Tom Hanks’ Andrew Beckett, in Philadelphia.
The award-winning drama was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge the HIV/AIDS Crisis and the implications it had for homophobia in society and the LGBTQ+ community.
Philadelphia marked Banderas’ big Hollywood breakthrough. He had previously played a gay man in Pedro Almodóvar‘s 1987 Spanish comedy thriller Law of Desire – a role which saw him kiss another man on screen for the first time.
8. James Franco in Milk (2008)
James Franco delivered an award-winning turn as LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk’s lover in 2008’s Milk. (Jason Merritt/Getty)
Milk is a biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk (played in the film by Sean Penn), who in 1977 became the first out gay person to be elected to public office in California.
Franco plays Scott Smith, Harvey Milk’s lover. Smith inspires Milk to move to San Francisco in hope of finding a community that accepts their relationship.
Smith serves as Milk’s campaign manager, but he grows frustrated with Milk’s devotion to politics, and he leaves him.
Milk was written by Dustin Lance Black, who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film in 2009. Black would go on to marry British Olympic diver Tom Daley in 2017.
9. Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015)
Eddie Redmayne played transgender pioneer Lili Elbe in 2015’s The Danish Girl. (Getty)
Redmayne plays trans landscape artist Lili Elbe in this Oscar-winning LGBTQ+ drama set in mid-1920s Copenhagen.
It is based the life of Danish painter Lili Elbe, who was one of the first known people to undergo gender affirmation surgery surgery.
The Danish Girl follows Lili as she comes to terms with her gender identity while being supported by her wife Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander).
She begins to seek help from doctors and meets one which offers to help her with gender affirmation surgery, but the artist tragically dies following complications with her second operation.
10. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking for its depiction of a gay relationship in a mainstream Hollywood film. (Screengrab/River Road Entertainment/Focus Features)
Gyllenhaal plays Jack Twist in director Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Annie Proulx’s 1997 novel.
Jack is working as rodeo cowboy in 1960s Wyoming hen he makes a pass at Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) after a night of heavy drinking, with the pair quickly developing a deep emotional and sexual relationship.
They part ways and go on to marry women, but after four years Jack visits Ennis and he tries to convince him that they should spend their lives together.
Instead, the lovers organise regular fishing trips where they can be together, but the story takes a tragic turn after Jack dies in what is implied to be a homophobic attack.
11. Dame Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal (2006)
Judi Dench played a schoolteacher with a homoerotic obsession in 2006’s Notes on a Scandal. (John Phillips/Getty)
Judi Dench plays lesbian history teacher Barbara Covett in the 2006 psychological thriller Notes on a Scandal.
It follows Barbara, a spinster and history teacher in London who takes comfort in writing in her diary. She begins to develop feelings for her new colleague, an art teacher named Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett).
However, things turn sour after Barbara realises that Sheba is having a relationship with an underage student, using this knowledge to manipulate her new friend.
After Barbara leaks the affair, both she and Sheba are fired. Sheba’s husband leaves her and the art teacher is sentenced to 10 months in prison, with the film ominiosuly ending with Barbara striking up conversation with another younger woman.
12. Julianne Moore in The Kids Are Alright (2010)
Julianne Moore played a lesbian parent in 2009’s The Kids Are Alright. (Elisabetta A. Villa/WireImage/Getty)
Julianne Moore plays Jules, a lesbian woman married to Nic (Annette Bening), who together have two children conceived using a sperm donor.
When the children get older they feel the need to contact the sperm bank to meet their donor father.
Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is revealed as the dad and he quickly becomes enthusiastic about being in his kids’ lives, however, the mothers don’t find out about their relationship straight away.
Jules and Nic invite Paul over and Jules and Paul click. Nic is still cold towards him as she feels his presence undermines her authority over their children.
Jules soon embarks on an affair with Paul, and while the whole family are at his house Nic finds her partner’s hair in his bed and bathroom.
Nic confronts her partner and the family fall out. It ends with the two mothers dropping their daughter off to start college, and shows them holding each other affectionately, suggesting they’ve overcome the infidelity.
13. Robin Williams in The Birdcage (1996)
Robin Williams played the owner of a drag club in 1996’s The Birdcage. (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty)
Williams plays the out gay owner of a South Beach drag club, Armand Goldman.
Goldman and his flamboyant partner Albert live together above the club and lead a lavish life together.
However, he is forced to play straight when his son’s future ultraconservative politician in-laws come to visit.
The gay couple uproots their life to pretend to be brothers as the family visit, but the night of the visit ends in turmoil as the conservative family are forced to dress in drag in order to escape the press.
14. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Heath Ledger played ranch hand Ennis del Mar in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain. (Peter Carrette Archive/Getty)
Ledger played Ennis del Mar, a ranch hand who falls in love with Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) while working together.
Despite their powerful connection, Ennis refuses to pursue a relationship with Jack as he is haunted by a childhood memory of the torture and murder of two men believed to be homosexual.
Their respective marriages to women (played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway) fall apart and while they still frequently see each other but begin to drift apart.
Ennis tries to reach out to Jack once more but is devastated to learn of his death, which he fears was a result of a homophobic attack.
15. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for his portrayal of gay writer Truman Capote in 2005’s Capote. (Michael Caulfield/WireImage/Getty)
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays gay author Truman Capote in the biographical film about his time writing the 1966 book In Cold Blood.
Capote becomes attached to two convicts who have been charged with killing the Clutter Family. He frequently visits them to try and understand the evening they were killed.
He develops a bond with convict Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and his soft tendencies, but the whole time he grows further away from his life at home.
16. Cher in Silkwood (1983)
Cher (right, pictured with Val Kilmer) was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 1983’s Silkwood. (Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty)
Cher plays the lesbian character Dolly Pelliker in Silkwood, a film about the life of Karen Silkwood, a nuclear whistleblower and labour union activist who died in mysterious circumstances
Silkwood was a plutonium factory worker and is played by Meryl Streep. Cher plays Dolly, Karen’s lesbian friend.
The film marked a turning point in the LGBTQ+ icon’s career as one of the more “serious” films she did.
17. Sean Penn in Milk (2008)
Sean Penn (centre) won an Oscar for his portrayal of LGBTQ+ pioneer Harvey Milk in 2008’s Milk. (Getty)
Sean Penn plays the title character Harvey Milk in the film biopic which documents his political career, from his early failed political campaigns up until his assassination in 1978.
It also looks at his relationship with Scott Smith (James Franco) and Jack Lira (Diego Luna), as well as his working relationship with Dan White (Josh Brolin), a conservative supervisor on the San Francisco Board.
White eventually shoots Milk after he becomes enraged at the gay rights movement.
18. Charlize Theron in Monster (2003)
Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster. (Getty)
Charlize Theron plays the role of Aileen Wuornos, a real-life sex worker who was executed in 2002 for killing six men.
Theron received critical acclaim and won seventeen awards for her portrayal, including the Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress.
The biographical film follows Wournos after she kills a client that raped her and her attempts to get out of sex work.
However, her lack of qualifications and criminal history pushes her back into sex work, and she begins to rob and kill her clients as she suffers PTSD from the rape.
19. Christina Ricci in Monster (2003)
Christina Ricci starred opposite Charlize Theron in 2003’s Monster. (Getty)
Christina Ricci plays Selby Wall, the girlfriend of Aileen Wuornos in Monster.
The book which the film is adapted from is written by Tyria Moore (the real-life girlfriend of Wuornos who the character Selby Wall is based upon).
Wall lives off the money that Wuornos makes my robbing and killing her clients, without realising the crimes her partner was committing.
Wall eventually testifies against her partner, leading to a death sentence being handed to Wuornos.
20. Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Jim Carrey played gay con artist Steven Russell in 2009’s I Love You Philip Morris. (Getty)
Jim Carrey played Steven Jay Russell in the comedy-drama film about the prison escapee and con artist.
In prison, Russell falls in love with fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor).
When Morris is released from prison, Russell escapes to be with his lover.
21. Marlon Brando in Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Marlon Brandon played a sexually repressed solider in 1967’s Reflections in a Golden Eye. (Getty)
Marlon Brando plays a married soldier on an army base in the 1940s whose sexuality is repressed.
Brando was the fourth choice for the role after the original actor Montgomery Clift died. Richard Burton and Lee Marvin turned the role down before it was offered to the Oscar-winning actor.
Elizabeth Taylor co-starred as Brando’s wife.
The film, based on the 1941 novel by Carson McCullers, was largely unsuccessful at the box office.
22. Whoopi Goldberg in Boys On the Side (1995)
Whoopi Goldberg played lesbian musician Jane in 1995’s Boys On the Side. (Getty)
Whoopi Goldberg plays a lesbian lounge singer, Jane, on a road trip with Holly (Drew Barrymore) and Robin (Mary-Louise Parker) in this 1995 American comedy-drama directed by Herbert Ross.
Jane is in search of a new life after breaking up with her girlfriend and getting fired.
The threesome embarks on a cross-country road trip, forming a special friendship throughout the tragic but beautiful journey.
Jane falls in love with Robin, but she contracts HIV, and the three go their separate ways.
The film ends as Robin dies from AIDS-related complications, Holly starts a family, and Jane hits the road once more to seek a life of her own.
23. Hugh Grant in Maurice (1987)
Hugh Grant played gay Cambridge student Clive Durham in 1987’s Maurice. (Mikki Ansin/Getty)
The 1987 British romantic drama is based on the novel by E. M. Forster and is a classic gay love story set in the early 20th-century.
Grant plays the wealthy Clive Durham who confesses that he is attracted to Maurice (James Wilby), but the feelings go unreciprocated until they begin to develop an intimate relationship with each other.
Durham stops them from becoming sexually involved as he fears that his status as an upper-class member would be diminished if their relationship was found out.
24. Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Will Smith played gay con artist Paul in 1993’s Six Degrees of Separation. (Getty)
In this 1993 comedy-drama, Smith plays Paul, a gay con-artist who works his way around the Upper East Side with his charming charisma.
Paul befriends some of the richest New Yorkers and in turn, he schemes to live off their money.
The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play of the same name.
It was inspired by the real-life story of David Hampton, a con-man in 1980s New York who convinced the city’s elite that he was the son of a famous actor.
25. Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal of trans man Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty)
Swank plays a young trans man in this biographical film about Brandon Teena, a man who was brutally killed in a transphobic attack in 1993.
The film looks at the transphobia Teena had to deal with as people began to realise he was transgender.
He receives physical threats and gets into fights often leading him to move to Nebraska, where he meets his girlfriend Lana Tisdel (played by Chloë Sevigny) and befriends her brothers and friends.
Teena’s criminal past catches up with him and he is imprisoned and the group realise that he is transgender while going through documents.
Lana’s brothers become enraged, beating and gang-raping Teena before later killing him after he reports the incident to police.
26. Daniel Radcliffe in Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Daniel Radcliffe played gay poet Allen Ginsburg in the 2013 biopic Kill Your Darlings. (Getty/Slaven Vlasic)
He said that the gay kiss with co-star Dane DeHaan was ”sincere, passionate and romantic”, and joked that he would like to win an MTV award for it.
Actor, Daniel Radcliffe on the set of the film ‘Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire’, London, England, 2004 (Photo by Murray Close/ Getty Images)
The star also spoke in an interview about filming gay sex scenes for the film, saying that when filming an intimate scene, the director gave him “step-by-step” instructions.
He also joked that “gay sex, especially for the first time is really painful”.
27. Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch is best known for her role as Glee’s Sue Sylvester. (Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage)
It’s not just straight actors who have gone gay on-screen, gay actors have played against their off-screen sexuality also.
Well known for playing Sue Sylvester the sadistic coach on the hit show Glee, Lynch is a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.
She played a lesbian on-screen 2000’s Best in Show, but has also played an array of straight characters.
From Paula in The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) to Julia Child’s sister Dorothy in Julie and Julia (2009), this out gay actor has her fair share of straight roles under her belt.
28. Luke Evans
Welsh star Luke Evans has been out publicly since the start of his acting career. (Getty)
Out gay Welsh actor Luke Evans has made the transition to Hollywood leading man over the last decade and in 2017 he played the villainous Gaston in Disney’s live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
The star also played the boyfriend of bisexual actor Michelle Rodriguez’s character in the Fast and the Furious franchise.
He has also starred in hit films like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Raven (2012).
29. Rosie O’Donnell
Rosie O’Donnell came out publicly in 2002. (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty)
The comedian, actor and presenter came out publicly in 2002 and has since been a vocal champion of LGBTQ+ equality and a vocal critic of former US president Donald Trump.
She married her wife Michelle Rounds in 2012 but has played straight on the silver screen a number of times.
O’Donnell played Doris in A League of Their Own (1992)and Betty Rubble in The Flintstones in Viva Las Vegas (2000).
30. Wanda Sykes
Wanda Sykes came out publicly after marrying her wife Alex Niedbalski in 2008. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage)
Comedian and actor Wanda Sykes came out publicly after marrying her wife Alex Niedbalski in 2008.
She has appeared in a number of big screen and TV roles, playing straight characters such as Biggie Shorty in Pootie Tang (2001).
Sykes also appeared alongside Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez in Monster-in-Law (2005) and has been a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights through her comedy and campaigning.
31. Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons played The Big bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper for 12 seasons. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
At one time rumoured to be the top paid out actor in Hollywood, Parsons played Sheldon Cooper on the The Big Bang Theory for 12 seasons from 2007-2019.
Parsons’ character was in a relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) for several seasons.
Sarah Paulson is currently in a relationship with actress Holland Taylor. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty)
The American Horror Story actor has played a number of straight characters in Ryan Murphy’s hit FX anthology series.
She also played a Christian who believes homosexuality is a sin in the short-lived 2006 TV drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, starring Friends’ Matthew Perry.
She dated actor Cherry Jones from 2004-09 and since 2015 has been in a relationship with actor Holland Taylor.
33. Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez came out publicly as bisexual in 2013. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty)
The Fast and the Furious star played straight character Letty in a number of the franchise’s films.
She came out publicly as bisexual in October 2013 and has since revealed that she dated Cara Delevingne.
Rodriguez got into some hot water when she defended her role in 2016’s controversial action film The Assignment, which saw her play an assassin who undergoes a ‘forced sex change’ at the hands of a crazed doctor, played by Sigourney Weaver.
34. Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris came out publicly in 2006. (Getty)
Neil Patrick Harris out publicly as gay since 2006, but it hasn’t stopped him playing straight roles on TV and film.
The star, who has a twin son and daughter with husband David Burtka, famously played straight womaiser Barney Stitson in TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
Upon coming out publicly in 2006, Harris said: “I am happy to dispel any rumours or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love”.
35. Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin has juggled acting with his singing career. (Getty)
The Puerto Rican singer and actor came out publicly as gay in 2010 following years of tabloid speculation around this sexuality.
He wrote on his website at the time: “These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed.”
Martin has played both gay and straight characters on TV. He played straight singer Miguez Morez on General Hospital from 1994-95 and later took on the role of Gianni Versace’s partner Antonio D’Amico in Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story in 2018.
36. Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller is best known for his role in TV action series Prison Break. (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
The Prison Break star came out publicly in 2013 when he posted a letter to the GLAAD website declining a place at a Russian film festival over the country’s persecution of LGBTQ+ people.
He played Michael Scofield in Prison Break from 2005-2009 before returning for a revived fifth season in 2017.
Miller has since been a strong advocate for mental health awareness, LGBTQ+ rights and other important causes, revealing in 2021 that he had been diagnosed with autism as an adult.
37. David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Pierce played psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier between 1993 and 2004.
By the end of the show, Crane had a son and was married to a woman, but Pierce came out publicly as gay in 2007.
He married his partner Brian Hargrove in 2008, at which point the pair had already been together for 25 years.
38. Cynthia Nixon
Cynthia Nixon is best known for playing Miranda Hobbes on Sex and the City. (Getty/Dimitrios Kambouris)
The politician, activist and actor played Sex and the City‘s Miranda across six seasons, two movies and one spin-off.
Nixon was in a relationship with teacher Danny Mozes from 1988-2003, with whom she shares one child, who she revealed in 2018 is transgender.
She began dating education activist Christine Marinoni in 2004, with the couple marrying in 2012.
While Sex and the City’s Miranda was portrayed as straight duringthe series’ initial TV run and first two films, the show’s 2021 revival series And Just Like That… saw the character come to a new understanding regarding her sexuality after beginning a romance with non-binary YouTuber Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez).
39. Maria Bello
Mario Bello released a 2015 book exploring the theme of sexuality. (Getty)
Coyote Ugly star Maria Bello came out in 2013, but it never stopped her playing straight roles on the big screen.
She has since made appearances in films like The 5th Wave (2016), The Late Blooner (2016) and Lights Out (2016).
Bello has a son with her ex-boyfriend Dan McDermott, but has been in relationships with women including Clare Munn and chef Dominique Crenn.
In 2015 she published a book on the topic of sexuality entitled Whatever… Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves.
40. Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming is one of Hollywood’s most high-profile bisexual male actors. (Getty)
The bisexual X-Men star married his partner Grant Shaffer in 2007 and the pair renewed their vows in 2012.
Cumming has played a number of straight roles in his career, including Joe Therrian in The Anniversary Party (2001) and Sandy Frink in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997). But it hasn’t stopped him from being a powerful advocate for LGBT rights.
He has since starred in hit shows like The Good Wife and presented the US edition of hit reality competition The Traitors.
He was awarded an OBE honour by the Queen in 2009 but revealed in January 2023 that he had handed the award back due to the “toxicity” of the British Empire.
41. Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster publicly came out during the Golden Globes in 2013. (Jon Kopaloff/Getty)
After years of remaining publicly tight-lipped about her sexuality, Foster publicly came out in an acceptance speech at the Golden Globes in 2013.
She told the crowd: “I already did my coming out about 1,000 years ago back in the Stone Age, those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers, and then gradually and proudly to everyone who knew her, to everyone she actually met.”
Throughout her career, Foster has played a number of straight roles, including Annabelle Bransford in Maverick (1994).
42. Zachary Quinto
Zachary Quinto came out publicly in 2011. (Brendon Thorne/Getty for Paramount Pictures)
The out gay star of Star Trek played a straight character in the film franchise, with Spock getting together with Ahura (played by Zoe Saldana).
Quinto came out publicly in 2011 and has played a number of roles in his career.
The LGBTQ+ rights advocate also took to the small screen in multiple seasons of Ryan Murphy’s chilling anthology series American Horror Story.
43. Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson kept the fact that he was gay a secret throughout his life. (Getty)
Although he didn’t come out publicly in his lifetime, it became well known that Rock Hudson had relationships with men.
He died of AIDS-related complications in 1985, becoming the first major celebrity to die from complications relating to the disease.
Throughout his career, the heartthrob appeared in heterosexual leading roles opposite stars like Doris Day, such as Brad Allen in Pillow Talk (1959) as Jerry Webster in Lover Come Back (1961), and as George in Send Me No Flowers (1964).
44. Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008. (Rich Fury/Getty)
The Australian-American actress’ most notable TV roles have been in Ally McBeal and as Lindsay Bluth Funke in Arrested Development, where her character was married to a man.
She married Ellen DeGeneres in 2008 and the couple are still going strong.
De Rossi has also made film appearances in motion pictures such as Scream 2 (1998) and Cursed (2005).
45. Russell Tovey
Out gay actor Russell Tovey has played a variety of high profile straight roles. (Dominik Bindl/Getty)
The out gay British actor played a number of high-profile straight TV roles, including George Sands in Being Human and Steve in Him & Her.
He has been open about his initial struggle to be accepted by his family when he came out in his late teens.
While continuing to land straight roles, such as The Ray in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, Tovey has also played gay characters in shows like Looking and Russell T Davies’ Years and Years.
46. Lily Tomlin
Grace and Frankie star Lily Tomlin married her long-term partner Jane Wagner in 2013. (Getty)
The star of Grace and Frankie married her long-term partner Jane Wagner in 2013 after more than 40 years together. On the hit Netflix show, Tomlin played Frankie Bergstein, a woman who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jane Fonda’s Grace Hanson after their husbands leave them for each other.
The Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner also played Vivian Jaffe in I Heart Huckabees (2004).
47. Matt Bomer
Matt Bomer shares three children with his husband Simon Halls. (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)
Actor Matt Bomer came out publicly in 2012 and shares three sons with his partner Simon Halls, who he married in 2011. Prior to coming out, he made film appearances in noughties films including Flightplan (2005) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006).
After opening up publicly about his sexuality, Bomer has continued to play both straight and gay roles, such as in Magic Mike: XXL (2015) and The Boys in the Band (2020). On TV, Bomer is known for playing Neal Caffrey in White Collar and starring alongside Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Hotel.
Bomer also starred in Ryan Murphy’s 2014 TV adaptation of Larry Kramer’s classic 1985 AIDS stage play The Normal Heart.
48. Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Groff came out publicly in 2009. (Bruce Glikas/WireImage/Getty)
Glee star Groff played Jesse St. James, the love interest of Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) on the hit musical series. After coming out publicly in 2009, Groff dated Zachary Quinto, before the pair broke up in 2013.
He has since appeared alongside Russell Tovey in HBO’s LGBTQ+ drama Looking, and voiced the roles of Kristoff and Sven in Disney’s Frozen (2013) and Frozen 2 (2019). His most recent big screen appearance came opposite fellow out gay actor Ben Aldridge in M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin (2020).
49. Denis O’Hare
Denis O’Hare is best known for his roles in American Horror Story. (Rich Fury/Getty Images)
The American Horror Story star married his long-term partner Hugo Redwood in 2011 and the couple has one son.
He appeared in seven seasons of the horror anthology series, and also played notorious homophobe John Briggs in Dustin Lack Black’s 2008 biopic Milk, about San Francisco City Councillor and LGBTQ+ activist Harvey Milk.
Jim Carrey has spoken publicly about his ADHD diagnosis. (Getty)
They Overcame So Much
Cher is one of a number of stars who have spoken about their dyslexia. (Kevin Winter/Getty)
Neurodiversity is part of everyday life, so it is no surprise that many of the world’s most successful celebrities have brains that work differently to the average or “neurotypical” person.
Here are 19 inspiring celebrities who have flourished while living with conditions such as ADHD and dyslexia.
1. Richard Branson
Sir Richard Branson has spoken about his dyslexia. (John Lamparski/Getty)
The Virgin founder overcame his dyslexia to set up one of the most successful businesses in the world.
He struggled with other people’s attitudes when he was younger and dropped out of school because of it.
Branson said his dyslexia was “treated as a handicap: my teachers thought I was lazy and dumb, and I could not keep up or fit in”.
He says dyslexia is “not a disadvantage” but “a different way of thinking”.
2. Adam Levine
Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine was diagnosed with ADHD in his early teens. (Getty)
The Maroon 5 frontman has spoken openly about being diagnosed with ADHD in his early teens.
He said: “My doctor diagnosed me with ADHD in my early teens. What was really helpful to me was learning that this was a real medical condition – I had ADHD.
“The diagnosis helped explain the challenges I was having in school, including my difficulty focusing, sitting down and getting my school work done.”
He went on to become a hugely successful music artist.
3. Steven Spielberg
Director Steven Spielberg has been diagnosed with dyslexia. (Getty)
The Jurassic Park director is dyslexic and, like Albert Einstein, struggled with school and eventually dropped out of college.
Despite learning to read two years after his classmates, Spielberg says working in Hollywood helped him overcome his difficulties.
“I never felt like a victim,” he said. “Movies kind of saved me from shame – from putting it on myself, from making it my burden when it was not.”
4. Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs spoke about his struggles with dyslexia. (Getty)
The late Apple founder spoke openly about his struggles with dyslexia and dropping out of college. He often talked about being frustrated with the academic system from a young age.
“You cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards,” he said in a famous speech.
“You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. This approach has never let me down.”
5. Robin Williams
Robin Williams in 1996 film The Birdcage. (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty)
The late Mrs Doubtfire star spoke openly about living with ADHD, depression and bipolar disorder.
Throughout his career, right up until his death in 2014, Williams tried to break down the stigma around mental illness.
He lives on in the hearts and minds of fans who loved him.
6. Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins thinks his dyslexia has made him more interesting as an actor. (Getty)
The Silence of the Lambs star has said he thinks his dyslexia made him more interesting as an actor.
He said: “I was pathetic at school in Port Talbot. I do not know if it was dyslexia or attention deficit disorder, or just me being a problem child, but I sat in the back of the classroom and did not know what any of the teachers were talking about – I was bottom of the class at everything. And I was made to suffer.
“But in a way that was a great gift that life gave me, because in the end I was so angry and enraged that I made a certain choice in life. I thought: ‘I will get my revenge, I will become rich and famous and that will show them.’”
7. Elvis Presley
The late Elvis Presley is believed to have had ADHD. (Getty)
Elvis is believed to have had ADHD, although the diagnosis was not made during his life.
The “Jailhouse Rock” star became one of the most successful musicians of all time, despite showing symptoms that are now associated with ADHD.
Although ADHD was first mentioned in the early 1900s, it was not recognised in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders until 1968.
8. Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey has spoken publicly about his ADHD diagnosis. (Getty)
The actor has been open about being treated for ADHD since he was a child.
He has also spoken openly about dealing with major depression and has called for stigma around mental illness to be tackled.
The Dumb and Dumber star has also spoken about being prescribed antidepressants.
9. Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is now widely considered to have been dyslexic. (Getty)
Because of some details of his life, legendary theoretical physicist Albert Einstein is now widely considered to have been dyslexic.
He did not talk until the age of four and, according to some accounts, did not learn to read until he was nine years old.
Einstein lost several teaching positions and took multiple attempts to be admitted to college, but went on to become one of the greatest scientific minds in history.
10. Joan Rivers
The late Joan Rivers was diagnosed with ADHD. (Getty)
The late TV host, comedian and entrepreneur did not pull any punches when it came to critiquing others.
But she also opened up about her own experiences, including living with ADHD.
She did not let her diagnosis stop her from becoming wildly successful as a stand up comic and host of Fashion Police.
11. John Lennon
John Lennon was diagnosed with dyslexia while at school. (Getty)
The late Beatles star is believed to have had ADHD and was diagnosed with dyslexia in school.
He went on to find massive fame as a musician despite struggling at school with spelling and memorising information.
Lennon overcame these challenges to help create some of the most well known music in history.
12. Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. (Getty)
The “Complicated” singer has spoken about being diagnosed with ADHD as a child and the struggles she and her family had living with it.
She released her hit album Let Go at the age of 17 and has gone from strength to strength since.
Despite struggling with ADHD in her younger years, Lavigne continues to be one of the most successful recording artists of the 21st century.
13. Cher
14. Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves struggled with dyslexia while at school. (Getty)
The Matrix star dropped out of school before he finished after struggling with dyslexia.
He credits his acting career with helping him cope at school, where he sometimes pretended to understand things he did not.
Reeves says he thinks he was “coping with the fact that I did not really fit in”.
To this day, the actor reads and recites Shakespeare to calm himself.
15. Emma Watson
Emma Watson was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. (Twitter/@emmawatson)
The Harry Potter star, best known for portraying Hermione Granger on the big screen, was diagnosed with ADHD as a child.
As well as starring in one of the most successful film franchises in history, Watson has achieved an English degree from Brown University.
She also went on to become a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.
16. Michael Jordan
Basketball legend Michael Jordan lives with ADHD. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty)
The famed basketball star did not let ADHD stop him from becoming one of the most successful athletes of his time, both on and off the court.
Jordan appeared on the big screen playing himself in 1996 comedy film Space Jam and is also a wildly successful businessman, having made millions from merchandise and other investments.
17. Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder lives with ADHD. (Lester Cohen/Getty)
Stevie Wonder did not let an ADHD diagnosis slow down his dreams of becoming a musician.
The “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” singer went on to become one of the most successful and recognisable figures in the music industry.
Wonder was signed to a record label at age eleven and was often considered a child prodigy when it came to playing instruments.
18. Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson has been diagnosed with ADHD. (Getty)
Despite being diagnosed with ADHD, Nicholson has gone on to appear in some of the most recognisable roles in Hollywood.
He did not let ADHD slow him down, appearing in Batman, as well as other titles like A Few Good Men and The Shining.
19. Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg has been open about living with dyslexia. (Getty)
Whoopi Goldberg is one of the most well known faces in the world and has overcome a late dyslexia diagnosis to help explain some of the struggles she faced at school.
The Sister Act star says she was labelled “dumb” in school, but was later diagnosed with dyslexia in adult life.
She has likened misunderstandings about dyslexia to the way people once dismissed menstrual cramps in young people, before they were properly recognised and taken seriously.
Some will remember Joey Pollari as Miles from Avalon High, while others know him from Love, Simon where he played a possible love interest for Simon. He came out at eighteen, telling The Advocate that taking on roles about queer self-discovery meant a great deal to him.
2. Raven-Symoné
Raven-Symoné knew she was gay from age twelve. The That’s So Raven star publicly came out when marriage equality was legalised across the US, celebrating online with the message: “I can finally get married!” She later explained that she delayed coming out because she felt pressured to maintain her Disney image.
3. Garrett Clayton
Garrett Clayton became a Disney favourite through Teen Beach Movie and its sequel. In 2018, he shared a personal Instagram post discussing his long-term partner, Blake Knight, along with his experiences around mental health.
4. Rowan Blanchard
Rowan Blanchard starred as Riley Matthews in Girl Meets World. She came out as queer on Twitter at fourteen, saying she did not want to label herself strictly as straight or gay.
5. Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato has been open about their sexuality, mental health and identity, later sharing that they are non-binary. They have said this journey followed years of reflection and healing.
6. Bella Thorne
Bella Thorne, known from Shake It Up, first came out as bisexual in 2016 and later said she is pansexual. She explained that once she understood what pansexuality meant, she realised the label fit her.
7. Alyson Stoner
Alyson Stoner starred in Cheaper by the Dozen, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and many other children’s favourites. She came out in Teen Vogue, saying she is attracted to people of various genders, later identifying as a queer woman.
8. Josie Totah
Josie Totah appeared in Jessie and starred in Champions alongside Mindy Kaling. In 2018 she wrote a personal essay for TIME sharing that she is a trans woman.
9. Hayley Kiyoko
Hayley Kiyoko from Lemonade Mouth uses her music to explore her identity and highlight LGBT issues. Her videos often centre queer women, helping normalise representation in mainstream pop.
10. Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus, who rose to fame in Hannah Montana, has described her sexuality and gender as fluid. She has identified as pansexual and founded the Happy Hippie Foundation to support homeless LGBT youth.
11. Mollee Gray
Teen Beach Movie star Mollee Gray came out shortly before marrying her partner Jeka Jane in 2017. She has said she was not raised with strict ideas about gender, which shaped how she understood her identity.
12. Keke Palmer
Keke Palmer’s music video for “Don’t Belong to You” became a favourite among queer fans. She has spoken about rejecting rigid labels and defining her sexuality on her own terms.
13. Auli’i Cravalho
Auli’i Cravalho, who voiced Moana, came out as bisexual in a playful TikTok referencing an Eminem track. She has spoken openly about the importance of feeling seen and understood.
14. Dove Cameron
Dove Cameron, known from Liv and Maddie and Descendants, shared that she is queer. She has said she wants her music and public work to reflect her identity.
15. Karan Brar
Karan Brar, who starred in Jessie, Bunk’d and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid films, publicly came out as bisexual in 2023. He later reflected on the emotional challenge of navigating fame while staying true to himself.
16. Joshua Bassett
Joshua Bassett of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series came out in 2021 after expressing attraction to Harry Styles. In 2023 he caused concern after being baptised by a church known for promoting LGBT conversion practices.
