How Jessica Lange Became a Queer Icon

In the years that followed, Lange’s star shone even brighter and it wasn’t long until she was officially crowned as Hollywood royalty. Not only is she a six-time Oscar nominee (winning twice), but she’s also received one Tony Award, three Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards, becoming the most nominated actress in history for the category of Best Miniseries or Television Film.

However, all of this pales in comparison to her greatest achievement of all, and that’s her role as a gay icon. While she’s never tackled a queer character herself, Lange has long embodied the kinds of heroines that gay men often gravitate to. Whether she’s playing a manic-depressive housewife in Blue Sky (1994) or the vengeful Queen of Rome in Titus (1999), Jessica has always expanded on the “strong woman” trope to deliver unforgettable performances that don’t fit traditional definitions of femininity.

Lange once touched on this during an interview with The Advocate, explaining how “There are certain characters that are so normal or so thin or so regular that they don’t interest me. It would be a waste of my time as an actor.” Few performers can subvert their good looks to reveal the vulnerability that lies underneath as Lange does. In both her individual roles and throughout her career as a whole, the industry legend has always worked on her own terms, and it’s this defiance that appeals to gay men who also deviate from the norm in one way or another.

Following her rise to the top in the ’80s and that second Oscar win for Blue Sky in the ’90s, Lange’s career on screen began to diminish somewhat, proving yet again that Hollywood discriminates against older women, regardless of their proven talent and desire to succeed. Always a fighter, Jessica then turned her hand to the stage, channeling the melodrama of Tennessee Williams in plays like The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire.

As if that wasn’t enough to cement her status as a gay icon, Lange then took on the role of another gay legend in the HBO-produced Grey Gardens, starring as “Big Edie” Bouvier, the aristocratic aunt of Jacqueline Kennedy. With Drew Barrymore by her side, Jessica won both an Emmy and the hearts of LGBTQ audiences worldwide, but even this success paled in comparison to what would come next.

Not even the Supreme herself could have foreseen the impact that Lange would make in the first season of American Horror Story that premiered just two years later in 2011. The role of Constance Langdon was originally supposed to be far smaller, but once Jessica was cast, creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk expanded the part to suit her talents, positioning her character in a key role.

It wasn’t long before Lange would become the main draw of American Horror Story, evoking the flamboyant camp of legendary Hollywood characters like Norma Desmond and Baby Jane, but with her own uniquely fierce twist. As a result of this, more Emmys and starring roles on the show beckoned, transforming Jessica into a militant nun, an aging witch clinging onto youth and a wooden-legged freak show owner across the first four seasons.

cont'd

In the midst of all the aliens, monsters, demons and cannibals, Lange grounded American Horror Story each year, unifying each season despite the numerous shifts in plot and tone. It’s no surprise then that gays worldwide mourned the day that Jessica finally left the show. Fortunately, #20GayTeen is the year that everyone’s favorite AHS matriarch will return as she’s scheduled to appear in a future episode of Apocalypse, reprising the role of Constance Langdon once again.

Before it was revealed that she would come back to play the Antichrist’s grandmother in Season 8, Lange switched things up with another Ryan Murphy series called Feud where she reenacted Joan Crawford’s famous rivalry with Bette Davis back in the early ’60s. At times, Sarandon’s venomous portrayal of Davis threatens to steal the show thanks to those vicious one-liners, but it’s Lange who shoulders the emotional core of Feud’s first season.

Although it would have been easy for Jessica to play a caricatured version of Crawford, the nuance of her character’s tragic desperation on the set of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? and beyond garnered Lange her eighth Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.

By making the move from film to TV, Lange has avoided the hardships that Crawford herself faced later in life, reinvigorating her career faster than any spell or potion that Fiona Goode could have ever concocted. Stories told on the small screen come with more prestige than ever before, providing Jessica with the kind of meaty roles that few women (other than Meryl Streep) seem to be offered these days.

It’s not all been easy, though. Despite her fame and success, Lange has also suffered from severe depression on and off throughout her life, something that she channels into her work. During an interview with the L.A. Times, the iconic star confessed that: “Though my dark side is dormant right now, it continues to play a big role in whatever capacity I have to be creative. That’s the well I’m able to tap into, where all the anguish, rage and sadness are stored.”

By imbuing her work with the same ferocity that she also reserves for fighting her own monsters in private, Jessica Lange has made an undeniable impact on members of the LGBTQ community who also struggle against their personal demons on a daily basis. Although she might not be a god in real life, upcoming roles alongside the likes of Barbara Streisand, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Naomi Watts ensure that she’ll continue to inspire queer audiences like the cinematic deity we know she is.

The journalist is hot and I just love that his last name is essentially"OP".

She's the most awarded actress by the Gay and Lesbian Critics Association (GALECA), so the critics agree.

GAY icon, not queer.

CAMP icon

ICON.

The Lange troll just won't give up.

R8 There are many Lange fans on DL, dear, and elsewhere. Do keep up.

You type like someone feebly attempting to cover the sun with one hand.

Lange is one of my favorite queer icons and someone I greatly admire. I know someone who work on Long Day’s Journey and only had the nicest things to say about her.

Be careful, R10, lest you be labeled "the Lange Troll" by R8.

Also, glad to hear you/your friend weren't disappointed.

I remember seeing a flash of her pussycat in The Postman Always Rings Twice. The scene where she's getting it on with Jack Nicholson on the dining room table. I loved her ever since then.

Jessica Lange is a lady, she would never flash her lady parts. I feel terribly sorry she had that sleaze Nicholson pawing her. I think he's the type to take it too far and get off on having licence to grope around. Then joke about it afterwards.

She isn't my favourite actress but I find her very likable and talented.

R12/R13 Jack basically fingered her her through her panties, which was included in the film. Many claim she and Nicholson went all the way and that he screened the extended scene at parties.

Of course, this was filmed back when Lange was still living her best "look at all the fucks I give and can get" years, so I don't doubt she did the deed with him. She was always prone to falling for/getting it on with larger than life creative men.

Once, when asked about the scene and rumors, she paused wistfully and replied with, "Well, you know Jack... he's naughty."

I wanted to add, Lange always reminded me of a gay male in her youth, with her propensity for gorgeous, creative men, ranging from her age to much older.

Queen.

Hail, Holy Queen!

R17 lmfao!

Gay Icon Billy Porter fangirling over filming scenes with Lange for her upcoming appearance on AHS (episode 6).

No mention of SWEET DREAMS? I know, I know by rights that part belonged to d'Angelo. Never the less, Lang played the hell out of that part, as did Ann Wedgeworth- " Patsy, sometimes you're just too mean to live."

R20 Oh, dear. D'Angelo admitted that that part belonged to, was slayed and resurrected by Ms. LANGE.

I agree.

I, myself, recommend it often. It's one of my favorite films. NOBODY could've done it better. Ms. Lange was DIVINE.

Wedgeworth should've nabbed an Oscar nod. She was perfection.

"You big bald baby, I outta just fix you a sugar tit!"

:Patsy gives her the finger:

"You know you're still not to old for me to slap your jaws for you, you know that? You lay that sign on me again and I'll leave the print of my hand across your face...

I'LL MAKE YAH TEETH RATTLE!"

Her Lana Del Rey performance was absolutely amazing. I wish my stupid device would let me post it. The combination of the song and the visuals was really striking.

Four years later and it trended AGAIN a few days ago, R23.

She was discovered by gay icon, Antonio Lopez.

Great article.

"Shart journalism."

Most gay men do not identify with "queer".

Lange is NOT a gay Icon.

Icons are a faded concept.

"Into" is a collection of "shart pieces" where the main topic is identity politics, and written by people who want the identity of "writer".

"However, all of this pales in comparison to her greatest achievement of all, and that’s her role as a gay icon."

INCREDIBLY dumb statement by a navel gazing narcissist. And insulting to Lange.

R27 Pipe down, Faye.

Goddammit! If Meryl Streep and Madonna revere and love you, you're an icon period.

Lange IS a gay icon.

Queer is an umbrella term that includes gay people. I agree she’s not a queer icon unless she is an icon for all queer people and not just gay people. She should just be referred to as a gay icon unless all queer people love her as much as we (gay men) do.

"Occupation?"

"Cocksucker!"

Shitty shart writing that insults the subject.

Wtf is "start writing"? R33

uncontrollable urge to shart out a think piece that says nothing thoughtful. shart it onto a site that is not a publisher of real writing, has no editors, or any reason for existing but to construct people's identities.

R35 Or maybe he's just one of many gay men - a journalist, to boot - who really loves Jessica Lange.

and thinks Lange, a great actress, needs to hear her greatest accomplishment is being a "queer icon". Ok ok, I'm sure he was being purposefully hyperbolic but really this is silly.

R37 I see your point but it's contextual.

To Opie, writing as a gay man, being a gay/queer icon is the epitome of an actress' success.

It recalls that famous line - and I'm paraphrasing - "You really know you've made it when drag queens start imitating you!"

Muriel is too cute.

Another baby gay falls for one of Ms. Lange's characters.

Name Game drag

Who wrote this piece of crap? Jessica made bad movies, and if she is a gay icon it's because of her campy TV show. And most gay icons can get diverse jobs! Not just Ryan Murky.

She became a Gay Icon when Antonio Lopez discovered her.

So true, too.