Most gay characters in movies and TV shows are portrayed by straight actors. This can be unfortunate if you happen to be queer and seek out queer characters only to find their counterpart is straight in reality.
At the end of the day TV and movies are all acting, and being able to convincingly portray a lovey-dovey relationship or a character as different from you as possible is a part of a job well done.
So it's understandable that straight characters and gay characters are portrayed by actors who may not identify the same way sexually
Here is a short list of the most well-known and lower key actors portraying queer characters. Some may come as a shock while others are easily forseeable.
Don't forget to leave a comment below, and let us know if there are any we may have left out!
1.
Cheyenne Jackson
Although only a small role on Glee, his character Dustin Goolsby had a temptation for Holly Holiday.
2.
Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore's character on The Santa Clarita Diet is happily married to a man. Drew Barrymore may be a lesser-known queer actress, but she does identify as bisexual despite being married to a man.
3.
David Burtka
David Burtka portrays Lily's obsessive ex-boyfriend Scooter. Ironically, he's Neil Patrick Harris' real-life husband.
4.
Johnathan Bennett
Johnathan Bennett sometimes is more well known as the love interest of Cady Heron on the popular movie Mean Girls. It was only recently that he was accidentally outed as gay by a costar.
5.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga's character in A Star Is Born is in a heterosexual relationship with Bradly Cooper. Her brand is blurring the lines between normalcy, or at least what is considered normal in society, so her bisexuality is not something that might come as a shock to most people. She stands up for bisexual visibility.
6.
Matt Dallas
Matt Dallas was the star of the TV show Kyle XY where he was romantically involved with only women, Jessi and Amanda. Later to find out Matt is completely gay and married with children.
7.
Megan Fox
Among Megan Fox's recent character portrayals was as Nick Miller's girlfriend on New Girl. Megan identifies as bisexual.
8.
Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson portrays a lesbian woman in American Horror Story, but in the past has played a heterosexual character in Desperate Housewives. She's a well-known queer woman in Hollywood.
9.
Johnathon Groff
Maybe it was Johnathon's real-life friendship with Lea Michele that aided their on-screen relationship chemistry because he happens to be gay in real life.
10.
T.R. Knight
T.R. Knight's famous for playing George O'Malley on Grey's Anatomy where his character was teased about being gay, but always denied it very strongly. He even married Callie and only had sexual relations with women. It's ironic that his character had slight toxic masculinity when in real life T.R. Knight identifies as gay.
11.
Ellen Page
Ellen Page is one of the most iconic queer actresses who originally portrayed a straight character in the movie Juno.
12.
Vincent Rodriguez III
I was surprised to find out Vincent Rodriguez III who plays this manly man on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend identified as gay. I guess it's the ones you least expect!
13.
Neil Patrick Harris
Nei Patrick Harris stands as one of the most well-known gay actors. Not to say Barney Stinson's problematic treatment of women on How I Met Your Mother is excusable, but the fact that Neil is gay makes his character more ironic.
Inga Parkel
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