Microsoft Corp. and the chief rules enforcer for Xbox Live are apologizing to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer accused of violating the online gaming service’s code of conduct by publicly declaring he’s from Fort Gay — a name the company considered offensive.
The town’s name is real. But when Moore tried to tell Seattle-based Microsoft and the enforcement team at Xbox Live, they wouldn’t take his word for it. Or Google it. Or check the U.S. Postal Service website for a ZIP code.
Instead, they suspended his gaming privileges for a few days until Moore could convince them the location in his profile, “fort gay WV,” wasn’t a joke or a slur: It’s an actual community of about 800 in Wayne County, along West Virginia’s western border with Kentucky.
“At first I thought, ‘Wow, somebody’s thinking I live in the gayest town in West Virginia or something.’ I was mad. … It makes me feel like they hate gay people,” said Moore, an unemployed factory worker who plays shooters like Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Ghost Recon under the gamertag Joshanboo.
“I’m not even gay, and it makes me feel like they were discriminating,” said Moore, who missed a key Search and Destroy competition because of last week’s brief suspension. His team lost.
Angry and incredulous, Moore contacted customer service.
“I figured, I’ll explain to them, ‘Look in my account. Fort Gay is a real place,’” Moore reasoned. But the employee was unreceptive, warning Moore if he put Fort Gay back in his profile, Xbox Live would cancel his account and keep his $12 monthly membership fee, which he’d paid in advance for two years.
“I told him, Google it — 25514!” Moore said, offering up the town’s ZIP code. “He said, ‘I can’t help you.’”
Mayor David Thompson also tried to intervene, but with little success. Thompson did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press but told television station WSAZ, which first reported the dispute, that he was informed the city’s name didn’t matter. The word “gay,” he was told, was inappropriate in any context.
Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live said that was a miscommunication.
“That is absolutely incorrect” and is not Xbox Live policy, he told the AP late Tuesday.
Xbox Live received a complaint, which was directed to an agent for review.
“Someone took the phrase ‘fort gay WV’ and believed that the individual who had that was trying to offend, or trying to use it in a pejorative manner,” Toulouse said. “Unfortunately, one of my people agreed with that. … When it was brought to my attention, we did revoke the suspension.”
Complaints, he notes, come to agents with no contextual information, including who the suspected offender is or what games they play. The agent simply looks at the language and determines whether it complies with policy.
The Xbox Live player’s contract says users cannot “create a gamertag, avatar or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members,” and lists potentially dangerous topics such as drug use, hate speech and racial, ethnic or religious slurs.
The Code of Conduct, however, says players may use words including lesbian, gay, bi and transgender to express relationship orientation in their profile or gamertag.
Toulouse contends his team rarely makes mistakes but acknowledged, “Absolutely, a mistake was made here, and we’ve updated our training to account for that.”
Fort Gay has been a community since 1789, when 11 people tried to establish a settlement at the junction of the Tug and Big Sandy rivers, across from what is now Louisa, Ky. It was incorporated as Cassville in 1875 but was simultaneously known as Fort Gay until 1932, when town leaders changed it to the latter for good.
Wayne County historian Herb Dawson said there are several theories about the reason for the change, including the railroad company’s insistence that it couldn’t have two Cassvilles on the same route. There was already one in Monongalia County.
One newspaper claimed the post office found itself in a similar situation, while some locals offered a romantic theory about a Civil War nurse named Gay who won the heart of the townspeople while caring for wounded soldiers.
There is no evidence to support any of the stories, Dawson said, and no consensus on which is true.
But one thing is clear: The word “gay” was not always politically charged. In both the 1800s and the 1930s, “gay” was commonly understood to mean happy, lively or merry.
Nor is Fort Gay the only town in West Virginia with “gay” in its name: There’s a Gay in Jackson County and a Mount Gay in Logan County.
None of that, however, matters to Josh Moore, who just wants Microsoft and Xbox Live “to acknowledge this is a real place with real people in it.”
Toulouse said he will contact Moore and apologize. Staying ahead of slang and policing Xbox for offensive is a constant challenge, he said.
“In this very, very specific case, a mistake was made,” he said, “and we’re going to make it right.”
from The Associated Press

Archie Comics

Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead have a new friend: Archie Comics’ first openly gay character.
Kevin Keller, who first appears in Veronica #202 released on September 1st, 2010, is a teenager at  Riverdale High School, the fictional universe that has been entertaining kids of all ages since 1939.
“In the last year or two, we’ve been introducing a lot of new characters: Diverse characters, characters with different ethnicities. With trying to be diverse, we wanted to have everybody at the table,” said cartoonist Dan Parent, who’s writing and drawing the issue. “We knew at some point we wanted to introduce a gay character, and when I came up with the story idea, we felt it worked in context with this story.”
In his introductory story, titled “Isn’t it Bromantic?,” Kevin’s good looks get the attention of Veronica, who doesn’t know he’s gay because he’s the new kid in town. Her thwarted attempts at winning his attraction amuse the other characters – particularly Jughead.
“They just like watching Veronica making a fool of herself, trying to get this guy to like her,” Parent  said. “At the beginning of the book, Kevin tells Jughead first that he’s gay. And Kevin feels kind of bad and wants to tell Veronica why he’s not interested. But Jughead keeps saying, ‘No, you should wait to tell her,’ because he’s enjoying watching Veronica’s antics.”
Parent said the story works because it’s wasn’t something radical concocted just to introduce a gay character. “The story is very much in the true context of our Archie stories,” he said. “It’s Veronica being Veronica. The fact that there’s a gay character in the story isn’t a big deal to the characters. We didn’t do something with turmoil. The guy just happens to be gay, and the characters accept it, and that’s it.”
The longtime Archie cartoonist said Archie Comics wants to reflect what high schools are like in America, where being gay “isn’t a big deal anymore.”
“My daughter has openly gay kids in her high school and it’s accepted,” Parent pointed out. “Obviously this isn’t the case everywhere in the country. There are struggles that gay people have. But gay kids in high schools isn’t the big deal it used to be, and we want to reflect the way being gay is accepted in today’s society.”
In fact, the writer thinks one of the reasons Jughead is the first person told about Kevin’s sexual orientation is that he was always a “different” character in the Archie universe. “Jughead’s got a mind of his own. I think he’d be the first person to be accepting of a gay character,” Parent said.
The introduction of a gay character comes on the heels of several notable changes in Archie Comics. After a redesign to update the characters a bit for modern audiences, Archie Comics titles have started doing parodies of current pop culture stories and just introduced an interracial relationship for icon Archie with Josie and the Pussycats character Valerie.
“We’re trying to show that Riverdale is an accepting community, that everyone is welcome in Riverdale,” he said. “We’re trying to show that Riverdale is that ideal town that everybody wants to be a part of.”
from Newsarama
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Justin Timberlake

Reportedly, 29 year old superstar Justin Timberlake will lend his voice to a gay character named “Paul” on an episode of FOX’s animated comedy “The Cleveland Show.” The show’s creator, Rich Appel, confirms the news that Timberlake is playing a gay character. According to Appel, Justin Timberlake is hysterically funny in the role. Justin will also play a singing character named “Booger” in the same episode.
In the episode featuring Justin Timberlake, the character “Terry” who is voiced by Saturday Night Live’s Jason Sudeikis will fall in love with Timberlake’s character. “The Cleveland Show” is a spinoff of the mega popular animated show Family Guy which also airs on FOX.
Justin Timberlake film career is picking up. He will also be lending his voice to the upcoming animated film “Yogi Bear.” Timberlake lends his voice to the character “Boo-Boo.” Timberlake will have a major role in the upcoming drama “The Social Network” about the creation of Facebook which will star Jesse Eisenberg. The film is set to air in October.
Timberlake has other projects in line including starring opposite his ex-girlfriend Cameron Diaz in the romantic comedy “Bad Teacher“ which is scheduled for release next year.
The Cleveland Show episode featuring Justin Timberlake will premiere next year in February.
from Over The Limit
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Kylie Minogue

NEW YORK – Kylie Minouge stunned revellers at a gay club in New York on Friday night (04Jun10) when she debuted tracks from her upcoming album more than a month before its release.
The Aussie superstar made a surprise appearance at the Big Apple’s Splash nightclub and shocked fans by taking to the stage.
The 41-year-old gay icon whipped the crowd into a frenzy, performing with semi-naked male dancers and singing her new single All the Lovers and the title track of her upcoming album, Aphrodite, which hits stores next month (Jul10).
During the gig, she told the audience, “Thank you so much. It means so much to me that you are here and the support (sic) you’ve given me for such a long time – I love you!”
from Contact Music

Anthony Hopkins

What’s the downside to digital special effects and 3D movies overtaking theaters? One, at least, is that fans may lose sight of actors like Anthony Hopkins.
At 72 years-old, the Oscar winner says offers of work have slowed in recent years, and he finds roles in movies such as his current “The City of Your Final Destination,” to be most enjoyable because films like it “are very quiet and internal.”
That is not to say that Sir Anthony doesn’t care to work with big action and special effects. He performed in recent horror tale “The Wolfman” and in computer animated “Beowulf.”
But with big-budget movies like “Avatar” or “Clash of the Titans” dominating major studio releases — movies in which the acting is done in front of green screens, and sets and stunts are digitally added into the films — character-driven dramas such as “City of Your Final Destination,” get less marketing money and play on far fewer screens.
As a result, performances such as Hopkins’s portrayal of an eccentric, older gentleman named Adam — his first time playing a gay man on screen — often fail to reach theater audiences.
“I’ve done a couple of green screens, and if they work that’s great,” he said. “But now the audience is so smart, and I think you watch some movies, and you can tell it’s green screen, and somehow that looks detached” from the acting.
That won’t happen with “City of Your Final Destination,” which was directed by James Ivory from a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.
Along with Ivory’s producing partner Ismail Merchant, who died in 2005, the trio were responsible for hit dramas such as “Howards End” and “The Remains of the Day,” the 1993 movie that earned Hopkins his second Oscar nomination. He also won for playing killer Hannibal Lecter in 1991′s “The Silence of the Lambs.
But Merchant Ivory productions fell on harder times in the late 1990s and 2000s as action movies and comic book flicks gained ever greater clout in Hollywood. Their “The Golden Bowl” (2000) and “Le Divorce” (2003) bombed at box offices.
“City of Your Final Destination,” which was made in 2007 but is just now seeing a limited release in major U.S. cities over the next several months, tells of a young man who wants to write a biography of a deceased novelist named Jules Gund.
So, he travels to Gund’s home in a rural section of a Latin American country to obtain permission from the writer’s family. There he meets the writer’s sister Caroline (Laura Linney), his live-in mistress Arden (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and gay brother Adam (Hopkins) who shares the guest house with his lover.
What plays out is a sort of family drama that, at every twist and turn, peels back the facade of the Gund family and of the writer himself.
The setting is lush, the acting from top craftsmen and women, and the directing and writing by a team that was once at the top of Hollywood’s pecking order. In short, it is a movie that, perhaps only for now, is out of favor in Hollywood and confined to so-called “art house” theaters.
“(James) casts people because he trusts actors to do what they do,” Hopkins said. “It’s a little like playing tennis. It’s kind of an easy game. I don’t like tension and examination and analyzing (a scene), just do the damn thing.”
“City of Your Final Destination” is Ivory’s first film since the death of Merchant, and Hopkins said the producer’s big, friendly personality was missed on the set in Argentina.
He said that on Merchant Ivory projects, the producer “was a big presence and one of those rare characters who could just get films made.”
Hopkins recalled that Merchant approached him about a film, once, and he asked Merchant where would he get the money to finance it. The producer’s answer: “Wherever it is now.”
And for now, in Hollywood, the money is chasing action, animation, comic books and 3D, and that means it gets tougher to find work for guys like Hopkins.
“I have slowed down a lot,” said Sir Anthony Hopkins, who was knighted by the British for his legendary career. “I just work when the work comes in.”
from Reuters

I love You Phillip Morris

Audiences hoping to love Phillip Morris, or at least watch Jim Carrey loving Phillip Morris, will have to wait a little longer. Or maybe much longer.
Consolidated Pictures Group, the start-up that was poised to release the Sundance title, has postponed the release once again. And this time it’s indefinite.
The movie, which premiered at Sundance in 2009 and eventually played the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, was originally set to be released March 26. But about a month before that date, the company delayed the release date to April 30, when it was supposed to begin a limited run before expanding several weeks later.
Now a spokeswoman for the film confirms that the movie has been delayed again and in fact won’t be coming out at the end of the month. She adds that there is no release date scheduled at this time.
The movie, which comes from “Bad Santa” writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa and focuses on a love affair between a con man (Carrey) and his cellmate (Ewan McGregor, playing the titular Phillip Morris), drew mixed reviews on the festival circuit. But it did have its champions, who admired Carrey’s willingness to take on difficult (and partly true) subject matter
Movies can sit on the shelf without a distributor for years, but it’s rare for a title with such high-profile stars and a fair dollop of media attention not to see the light of day.
CPG, the start-up that released movies such as the indie wine-making drama “Bottle Shock,” picked up the title after it failed to find a buyer at Sundance. The acquisition gave hope to some that the independent distribution market wasn’t as bleak as some said, but the postponement suggests that it may, in fact, be that bleak after all.
from The Los Angeles Times

Modern Family / ABC

Whether they’re raising their adopted baby girl, dodging homophobic quips from their fraternity brothers or teaching the “Single Ladies” dance to the football team after glee club, it seems gay characters are becoming a vital part of prime time TV.
With characters like “Modern Family’s” Mitchell and Cameron, Calvin from “Greek” and Kurt from “Glee,” the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) characters on scripted programs has just about doubled since 2005, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation.
And characters will continue to identify as LGBT as time goes on, such as “Ugly Betty’s” Justin, who recently had his first same-sex kiss. But Jarrett Barrios, president of GLAAD said, “We still have a long way to go before we’re fully represented [on] TV.”
In addition to the increasing number LGBT characters on scripted shows, which currently represents a little more than 3 percent of all leading and supporting characters on broadcast networks, there are also more openly gay actors and producers working in Hollywood, says Barrios.
Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays the character Mitchell on the ABC prime time show “Modern Family.” Like his on-screen role, Ferguson himself is openly gay.
“The opportunity to play not only a well developed gay character, but a dad, a son and brother was really appealing to me. … I chose to play him very close to myself and I think that truthfulness was appealing to the creators,” Ferguson told CNN.
However, Ferguson says his sexual orientation does not make him any more qualified to tackle a gay role than Eric Stonestreet, his straight co-star who plays Mitchell’s partner Cameron.
“As a gay man and as someone who is an advocate for equality, truthfulness and fairness, I want to see more gay roles go to gay actors,” Ferguson said in an e-mail. “But then on the flip side, as an actor, I want to still be given the opportunity to play roles that are straight.”
In a recent interview on The Joy Behar Show Video, Stonestreet said he’s excited he has been given the opportunity to portray one half of a committed gay couple raising a child — a first, he said, for broadcast TV.
“Our goal is to make people laugh, but while we’re making people laugh, if we can open a couple minds here and there, that’s also an added benefit,” he said.
And while shows like “Modern Family” are working to open peoples’ minds about same-sex parents, the “L” and the “T,” of LGBT, are still waiting for their TV time, said Hollywood casting director Tammara Billik.
It’s very common for female characters to be portrayed as bisexuals instead of lesbians, she said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s because of a discomfort with lesbianism, it’s just an interest in bisexuality,” Billik said. “[People] think it’s hot, and it gives characters a wide variety of storylines.”
And as far as the “T,” she said, “transgender people are not represented in our daily lives with the same frequency that gay and lesbian people are. It’s harder to find an audience that will embrace a transgender character.”
Sean Smith, the executive producer of ABC Family’s “Greek,” said he has loaned some of his own experiences as an openly gay man to the show. And when casting, an actor’s sexual orientation does not come into play.
“When you’re in casting, it’s not appropriate or legal to say, ‘Hey, are you gay?’ Whether they’re gay, straight, from the South, British or from Mars, it doesn’t matter. The best person who captures that character gets the job.”
And for Smith, straight actor Paul James was the best person for the role of Calvin Owens, a gay member of Omega Chi, a fictional fraternity on “Greek.”
James said he doesn’t think twice about the intimacy between him and the three actors he’s made out with on the series. His girlfriend doesn’t either. It’s just acting, he says.
But with the exception of Neil Patrick Harris, who came out in 2006, playing a straight character on “How I Met Your Mother,” straight actors are more often tapped for gay roles, rather than the other way around. Or so it seems.
“Many gay actors, who are not out in Hollywood, are afraid (coming out) will compromise their ability to get roles,” Barrios said. “But [LGBT] actors need to feel as if they can be who they are and still make it in Hollywood or homophobia wins.”
Both Ferguson and Smith identified themselves as gay before beginning careers in Hollywood, but Smith said he understands why some people are apprehensive about coming out once they’re in the spotlight.
“People want to succeed and avoid any potential pitfalls, and coming out is definitely one that can draw attention to you that might make other people in this town fearful of hiring you,” said Smith. “For me, I’ve never really questioned it. I’ve worked with great guys. For them it wasn’t an issue, but I’m aware of other parts of this industry.”
People want to watch characters they can relate to, said Smith, who was very excited to welcome “Modern Family” into his living room.
“Jesse and I … get so many compliments from gay couples and lesbian couples that want to introduce us to their kids and thank us for representing them on TV for the first time,” Stonestreet told Behar.
But still, “Modern Family” isn’t hitting viewers over the head with Cameron and Mitchell’s physical intimacy.
“We’re the perfect show to just build it in naturally, not draw a bunch of attention to it,” Stonestreet said.
For Ferguson, it’s a non-issue.
“I want the viewers to know Mitchell and Cameron’s sex and love life is just fine,” Ferguson wrote. “They also have regular bowel movements, but that is something you don’t see either.”
from CNN

Adam Lambert

NEW YORK – “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert will mentor the show’s current crop of contestants next Tuesday, and will perform his single “Whataya Want from Me” on the following night’s results show.
“It’s true!” the glam-pop singer wrote on his Twitter page Tuesday. “In addition to performing on Idol April 14th, I will be mentoring the top 8 on the 13th. I feel honored to be asked.”
While the theme for next week’s performance show has not yet been announced, Tuesday’s top nine contestants tackled the John Lennon/Paul McCartney songbook.
Though “American Idol” mentors typically have decades of success under their belts, the show has been using younger artists this season. Miley Cyrus and Usher mentored the contestants through their Billboard No. 1s and R&B/soul-themed performances, while Katy Perry, Joe Jonas and Avril Lavigne served as guest judges during the early audition rounds.
Lambert was confident that he would have useful advice for those hoping to follow in his footsteps. “Even though I’m just at the start of my recording career, I hope to lend some insight as one who’s been thru the Idol adventure.” Lambert said on Twitter. “Excited!!”
Lambert also announced that he will release a new EP containing remixes of his first two singles — “For Your Entertainment” and “Whataya Want from Me” — and a third track from his debut album entitled “Voodo.” The “Remixes” EP will be released on Lambert’s Web site adamofficial.com on Friday and to digital retailers next Tuesday.
Evidently alluding to his controversial performance at the American Music Awards last November, when the openly gay singer kissed a male keyboardist, Lambert promised fans he would keep next week’s “Idol” appearance PG-rated. “Don’t worry America,” Lambert tweeted. “I will be beyond family friendly. Relax and enjoy. For Your Entertainment.”
from Reuters

Looking For Billy Haines

NEW YORK – In some other theater season, “Looking for Billy Haines” might have been welcome as a pleasant, lightweight entertainment. It’s about a dashing gay 1920s movie star who is run out of the business when he refuses to pose as straight by marrying some starlet and giving up the man he loves. It’s also about a young aspiring actor auditioning for a part in a movie telling Haines’s story and fretting over his closeted boyfriend.
But first-rate productions like “Next Fall” and serious, admirable ones like “The Temperamentals” are playing blocks away, so audiences are not exactly desperate for an evening of theater that represents and celebrates a gay male world.
“Looking for Billy Haines” is a bit of a vanity production too. Described as “a comedy with dance,” it was written by Suzanne Brockmann, a best-selling romance-suspense author, and her husband, Ed Gaffney (writing under the name Will McCabe), also a writer; directed by Ms. Brockmann; and stars Jason T. Gaffney, their son, as Jamie Hollis, the aspiring actor.
The younger Mr. Gaffney has an affable, appealingly modest stage presence, but it’s doubtful that he would have been cast in the lead without nepotism.
The dancing — mostly tap routines used in dream sequences or as scene punctuations — is a friendly, playful touch but feels strangely emotionless. Joseph Cullinane, who plays Haines, did the choreography.
Jamie lives with three roommates (Apolonia Davalos, Annie Kerins and Eric Ruben). His boyfriend is played by Jason Michael Butler. These actors give fine performances. Ms. Davalos is particularly touching in a telephone conversation about her boyfriend in Iraq.
Yes, Iraq. Act II brings a barrage of plot developments. Characters run to and fro, getting married, moving out, moving in, flying overseas, breaking up and solving financial mysteries.
The identity-theft subplot about two characters’ stolen credit card information feels completely out of place. But let’s call it a metaphor for Haines’s sexual identity, which Hollywood tried to steal.
Haines was quite real. As William Haines, he appeared in close to 50 films between 1922 and 1934. He and his partner, Jimmie Shields, remained together until Haines’s death in 1973.
from The New York Times

One Life To Live / ABC

This won’t go down well with the LGBT community. One Life to Live stars Brett Claywell and Scott Evans—who play gay couple Kyle and Fish—are being written off the show and will be gone by mid-April.
“We are concluding the story that we set out to tell with Kyle and Fish,” says executive producer Frank Valentini. “We are very proud to have broken new ground with a same-sex couple on daytime.”
Word is, the decision to drop the duo didn’t come easily. Kish has been a big success with the media and the show’s gay fans, and gay-advocacy groups have showered OLTL with awards for creating the trail-blazing couple. But sources at the network say the duo failed to resonate with the mainstream audience. Ratings for the ABC soap were particularly dismal in late 2009 during the weeks that Fish came out of the closet and he and Kyle officially became a couple. Also playing simultaneously was a sprawling plot that had Robin Strasser’s character, Dorian, pretending to be a lesbian in order to win the gay vote in the Llanview mayoral race. A case of gay overkill? Perhaps.
Here are the plans for the Kish wrap-up: Spoiler Alert! On the March 29 episode, Fish will learn for certain what viewers have known for quite a while—he’s the biological father of baby Sierra Rose, via his drunken one-nighter with psychotic stripper Stacy Morasco (Crystal Hunt). With Stacy now dead, there are rumblings of a custody battle with Stacy’s sister Gigi (Farah Fath) but, ultimately, the law is on Fish’s side and the two dads will blissfully start a new life with the baby.
A show rep says the characters will not actually leave Llanview and, because Fish is a cop, he may pop up in a crime-related capacity down the line—but no promises are being made.
from TV Guide
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Sean Hayes

Yup, he’s gay in real life, too.
Sean Hayes, who played flamboyant Jack McFarland on NBC’s Will and Grace for eight years, has publicly confirmed his sexuality for the first time.
The resolutely private actor recently gave his first interview to gay newsmagazine The Advocate after many denied requests.
The Advocate and other media had long criticized Hayes, 39, for not confirming what many have called the “open secret” of his sexual orientation.
“Really? You’re gonna shoot the gay guy down? I never have had a problem saying who I am,” Hayes says in the new cover story.
“I am who I am. I was never in, as they say. Never,” he states.
The actor, about to star in the Broadway musical Promises, Promises with Kristen Chenowith, still bristles at the idea that he was somehow obligated to come out earlier.  “Nobody owes anything to anybody,” he says. “You are your authentic self to whom and when you choose to be, and if you don’t know somebody, then why would you explain to them how you live your life?”
The star of the popular, Emmy-winning gay sitcom adds, “I feel like I’ve contributed monumentally to the success of the gay movement in America, and if anyone wants to argue that, I’m open to it.”
Hayes remains hesitant to reveal too much about his personal life, however. “I spend time with a special someone in my life,” he says simply. “That’s all I need…I don’t do a lot. I live my life like an 85-year-old man. I’m just quiet. It’s fantastic.”
from US Magazine

Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor says he doesn’t mind getting intimate with his fellow male stars, including his “I Love You Phillip Morris” co-star Jim Carrey – but the actor does take issue with the de-gaying of his latest movie.
“There was talk that Disney fended off the release [of ‘I Love You Phillip Morris’] until after ‘A Christmas Carol’ came out,” Ewan told Out Magazine in its March issue when asked about the delayed movie. “They didn’t want kids thinking [Carrey’s] Ebenezer Scrooge was a bender.”
Ewan thinks it’s ridiculous when the media attempts to pretend like “Phillip Morris” is not a gay movie.
“I’m very keen that it’s a gay movie,” the actor said of the movie, which will finally hit theaters on March 26. “There was quite a lot of talk at Sundance (in 2009) that ‘Well, it’s not a gay movie. It’s a film about guys who happen to be gay.’ And I was thinking, it’s nothing but a gay movie. It’s about a gay couple, about a man’s sexuality, and he comes out. It’s not the point of the film, but let’s not pretend it’s not a gay film.”
The trend of “de-gaying” films has been a hot topic lately in Hollywood, discussed recently by several media outlets including CNN regarding the marketing of recent films like “Valentine’s Day” and “A Single Man.”
The actor, who has played a slew of LGBT characters during his career including roles in 1996’s “The Pillow Book” and 1998’s “Velvet Goldmine,” told the mag he doesn’t mind doing what many of his fellow male colleagues shy away from.
“I like kissing boys on screen. As a straight guy, it’s quite an interesting proposition,” he explained. “Anything on a film set that takes you by surprise like that, that gets your blood up, is good.”
Ewan also discussed his tendency to go full frontal in several of his films, including “Trainspotting,” “The Pillow Book,” “Velvet Goldmine” and “Young Adam.”
“I remember getting a kind of rush out of that first time,” he explained. “A slight feeling of power about it, you know?”
The actor, who is also starring in Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” opening in limited release on February 19, told Out that he loves to challenge himself with the roles he takes.
“I’m always interested in playing different people, in different situations. It doesn’t matter to me whether someone is in love with a man or a woman,” he told the mag. “I find the idea of love and romance interesting. I’m a sucker for it. I like playing someone who’s falling in love because I like the sensation of it. People do extraordinary things when they’re falling in love.”
from Access Hollywood

Armani Valentine's Ad

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Oscar Nominee Colin Firth / A Single Man

UNITED KINGDOM – Colin Firth says gay actors risk missing out on work if they come out.
The actor, who stars as gay college professor George Falconer in A Single Man, said at the movie’s UK premiere in central London last night that there are still “invisible boundaries” that gay actors struggle to cross.
He said: “There might be risks for a gay actor coming out. The politics of that are quite complex, it seems to me.
“If you’re known as a straight guy, playing a gay role, you get rewarded for that. If you’re a gay man and you want to play a straight role, you don’t get cast – and if a gay man wants to play a gay role now, you don’t get cast.
“I think it needs to be addressed and I feel complicit in the problem. I don’t mean to be. I think we should all be allowed to play whoever – but I think there are still some invisible boundaries which are still uncrossable.”
Young British actor Nicholas Hoult, who has been nominated for the Bafta Rising Star Award, said he did not feel he was taking a risk by playing the role of student Kenny, who takes an interest in Firth’s character in the directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford.
“There was no fear (in taking the role),” said the 20-year-old.
“It was a very interesting character and when you get the chance to work with Colin and Tom, you’d be stupid to turn it down because you’re scared of playing a character who’s potentially gay.”
Director Ford joked that he had a “crush” on Firth and Hoult and admired their acting abilities, tipping them both for awards success – with Firth expected to get an Oscar nod when the nominations are announced tomorrow.
He joked: “I have a crush on Nicholas but I have a crush on every actor in the film … I think as a director you have to have crushes on the people that you cast in your movie.
“I think Nicholas was spectacular – I think he’s a wonderful young actor, he was nominated for Bafta as a Rising Star Award and I hope that he gets it, I think he deserves it.
“I try not to count my chickens before they hatch. However, I hope Colin gets a nomination … I think he did such a brilliant job, he was so wonderful to work with. I think it’s a great performance – maybe I’m biased but I think he deserves a nomination.”
Firth claimed he had no plans for the announcement of the nominations, but joked he probably should have made preparations in case he missed out on a nod for Best Actor.
“I will be doing an interview for Australian television and then I have no plans. I feel should probably have counselling in place in case I’m disappointed,” he said.
from The Independent UK

Elton John & David Furnish

Elton John & David Furnish have joined the producing team of Next Fall, the new American play by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Sheryl Kaller. Next Fall opens on Broadway on Thursday, March 11, 2010 with preview performances beginning Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at the Helen Hayes Theatre.
In a statement, Elton John & David Furnish said: “We are excited to join the team bringing Geoffrey Nauffts’ extraordinary play to Broadway. After fulfilling experiences bringing new musicals to the stage, it was seeing this inspiring and timely new work that attracted us to take on our first play. As we continue to collaborate together on the score for the new film Showstopper, we are thrilled to extend our working relationship with Geoffrey Nauffts and Anthony Barrile to the stage.”
Next Fall stars Patrick Breen as Adam, Maddie Corman as Holly, Sean Dugan as Brandon, Patrick Heusinger as Luke, Connie Ray as Arlene and Cotter Smith as Butch.
In addition to Elton John & David Furnish, Next Fall is produced on Broadway by Barbara Manocherian, Richard Willis, Tom Smedes, Carole L. Haber/Chase Mishkin Ostar, Anthony Barille, Michael Palitz, Bob Boyett, Roy Furman in association with Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director; John Alexander, Managing Director; Andy Donald, Associate Artistic Director; Brittany O’Neill, Producer). James Spry is an Associate Producer and Susan Mindell is the Executive Producer.
The creative team for Next Fall includes Wilson Chin (Set Design), Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design), John Gromada (Sound Design) and Jess Goldstein (Costume Design).
Next FallL had its world premiere in a Naked Angels production, opening to critical acclaim on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Next Fall played a sold-out run off-Broadway, extending three times, and played through August 8th.
Geoffrey Nauffts’ Next Fall takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. While the play’s central story focuses on the 5-year relationship between Adam and Luke, Next Fall goes beyond a typical love story. This timely and compelling new American play forces us all to examine what it means to “believe” and what it might cost us not to.
from Broadway World