Rupert Everett: being gay stifled my career

No, being a marginal actor with limited range, coupled with being insufferable, stifled your career.

The limited success you've enjoyed is a result of your being gay, not in spite of it.

Well then, thread closed

R1 marginal actor with limited range

You mean like lots of successful straight actors?

[quote]You mean like lots of successful straight actors?

Your forgot the "insufferable" part (See: Alex Pettyfer).

Only I seem to remember that he wasn’t gay. At least not openly so. And when he was young and being promoted as the new handsome, hot young star in the media - responses to questions about partners and relationships always used the term girlfriend. He didn’t go on to be quite the A-lister he and everyone else expected - and then - and only then! - did he publicly come out.

He really is excellent in THE HAPPY PRINCE. Surprisingly so. BAFTA should be horsewhipped if they do not nominate him. Which, of course, they won’t, as they desperately want to be seen as Oscar prognosticators.

Awful plastic surgery certainly hasn't helped.

sorry I think he is a pretty good actor. asstoundingly good in dance with a stranger

He is also a good writer and way way brighter than your average movie star.

I happen to agree with him that coming out stops a career in its tracks. Sure you can survive in tv and on the gay theatre curcuit, but as to a romantic lead or a lead in general in a major motion picture, sorry no way. There are too many things that can tank grosses and casting an out gay male league is out of the question.

He's turning into the gay Rondo Hatton!

I'd say the disfiguring plastic surgery killed his career a la Jennifer Grey

Being gay made you chose The Next Best Thing and Inspector Gadget?

And how many years did he milk being Madonna's faghag?

The bitter whiner has said it before and will say it again, over and over until he dies. He obviously thinks he's "all that," but the public disagreed.

What R12 says. He needed to discuss this 1 TIME. ONCE. In a book if he wanted to be on record. He's tone deaf to go on about this. Plus, its SELF SABOTAGING because he's not in the grave and there are plenty of elderly roles he could try to get and keep his career going. Instead he keeps on with this I could have been a contender crap and it only labels himself as some kind of loser. Which he certainly is not.

You could have a gay man who could still get romantic lead parts in motion pictures. If Bradley Cooper were to come out tomorrow, his career wouldn't change that much.

It's just that Rupert Everett is not a very good actor. He didn't get romantic leads because he wasn't compelling enough.

R14 He didn't get romantic leads because he wasn't compelling enough.

many closet cases are not compelling enough

He is a smug asshole. I know him through a friend (Rifat O) and always thought he had a stick up his ass, unless you were a handsome young man, then he could be fun and interesting for a few days until he got tired of you. He is a true prig.

^ Rifat Ozbeck??? Know him too! If that is who you a referencing. I lived in Istanbul for awhile. Re Rupert. If you want to see how self involved he is go on YouTube and watch timeline series on Lord Byron. He is self absorbed and insufferable and thinks his queeny antics and crass language are just so cool. He is an asshole.

This is what Matt Damon was trying to say when Al-Gayda attacked him.

But it's true — strategy-wise, it's better for an actor remain closeted. They can simply make more money.

I'm not saying it's right or everyone should stay closeted. But people need to acknowledge the truth of the situation.

The only time I saw him relaxed and somewhat charming was that little known documentary series he did on sex. He visited and interviewed lots of sex workers so that was right up his alley. He was happy with the prostitutes of the Parisian parks. They genuinely seemed to like him and vice versa.

He IS "keeping his career going with elderly roles," r13!

I saw THE HAPPY PRINCE at Sundance and it was excellent. There's no way to comment on a subject "once" — the MEDIA will ask him about it ad infinitum. He'll look like a bigger douche if he refuses to talk about an important issue that makes him unique that people are interested in.

I see both points. Maybe being gay I'm sick of this Rupert career saga, but I guess the general public could hear the message as fresh.

Poor Rupert, the old hooker. He tried. I always thought he'd be good in sexless parts like George Sanders. The droll and acerbic witty type. But he couldn't pull it off. I read his book. It wasn't bad and his sketches of the places he visited were quite good. He said when he read the reviews of The Next Best Thing his pubic hair turned white overnight. (!) He described Madonna as looking like an "Old, whiny barmaid." (They don't speak.) It was Hugh Grant who kind of did him in. After Grant got caught with the hooker and his heterosexuality was confirmed, he became America's favorite Englishman. A fan mistook Rupert for Hugh and asked for his autograph. He signed it "Fuck You! Hugh Grant" and took off back to the UK.

R17. Yes. Rifat Ozbeck. Wonderful man, never could understand why he liked Rupert so much. He was always making excuses for him. I know they partied together for many years, but still, come on, Rupert was such a jerk, so unlikable, and I don't say that too easily. One of the most unpleasant people I have ever met in my adult life.

How long is this asswipe twit gonna yammer on and on about this. He and Monica Blewinsky should get together for a giant pity party on how life just ain’t fair and then do a joint euthanasia and put all the misery to rest.

R23. Every now and then there is a minimal association here on DL. I wish there were some way to share some dish. Have known Rifat for decades after living in Istanbul and London. Was at a dinner Rifat threw once at Annabelle's where Rupert attended. He was at other end of table but still managed to Lord over the whole group. Ugh.

Younger than he is with pale skin and dark hair. Used to look at him and wish I looked like that. Let's just say that has't been my wish for a very, very long time. He believed too much of his own press and then fucked with his face. Now, he just looks weird.

R23 here. I am in my mid 50s now and can run circles around Rupert today in the looks department, but 20 years ago he was the hotter one, especially since he was a film star, so he kind of dismissed me and anyone else who wasn't hot enough (in his view). So glad I work outside of entertainment as I don't have insane pressure to look good for employment. He took advantage of all the perks being famous had to offer at the time and used it to his advantage, but now nobody seems to care too much. Oh well.

I don't think he's saying that gay men can't have good acting careers, it's more that gay men don't get cast as the leading man/straight romantic interest, which was true when he first came out and sadly remains true now. He also seems to feel that if he'd stayed in the closet he would have got those sorts of roles

Portia de Rossi basically got no more work once we discovered that she's gay.

What a waste that Everett’s career didn’t take off the way it maybe deserved to, and only because some casting directors were worried that he wouldn’t be taken seriously as a straight character because of his sexuality

Being a one trick pony stifled his career - also, when one is no longer young & beautiful, you can't coast on your looks any longer. You actually have to demonstrate *some* talent or humor

Simply put, he’s a terrible actor and human being. He has no one to blame but himself.

I find him to be a boring actor. Not spark that gets me excited as a viewer.

I doubt anyone looks forward to his movies

What was the press like after “Another Country” was released, did Cary or Colin receive better reviews? What was being said about the movie or Rupert?

"After Grant got caught with the hooker and his heterosexuality was confirmed, he became America's favorite Englishman. "

You don't believe that 'caught with a whore' set up do you?

I think he deserves more than he's gotten. I find it hard to believe that he's enough of a huge asshole as to be a fuck no.

why in the world does he look so terrible? he used to be very cute. but a terrible personality can eventually turn a beautiful face ugly. i wonder if that's what has happened to him.

insufferable bore and whiney queen. few have time for his bullshit anymore. good riddance.

I met Rupert a few times (mutual friend knows him) and he is a pompous jerk. Can't think of any single time he was relaxed and fun to be around, a total drain on your life

A beautiful man.

A real legend in his own mind type.

Yes and no.

He’s nasty.

I wonder what roles he thinks he should have landed.

Whatever he did to his face ruined his career.

I think he's a decent actor, but this 'being gay stifled my career' stuff is tripe. He became well-known in the 80s with Another Country, the Deep Blue Sea etc when he wasn't out; he tanked his own career by being a massive douche (people who worked with him then still won't go near him: Cary Elwes, Kenneth Branagh) and getting some catastrophic theatre reviews in the West End. He then moved to France, came out and tried to reinvent himself as a gay novelist.. There was obviously no money in that so, and to do him credit, he came back the hard way, with theatre work and micro-indies, before getting cast in My Best Friend's Wedding, the success of which gave him a second chance at a film career, which has gone pretty well considering. Being out gave him his current career, it didn't stifle it.

Shame he hasn’t gotten to know DL’s favorite Luke Evans, could have bagged him a job like he’s done with the current ugly cunt he’s dating!!!

Judging from comments I've read here and elsewhere I have to conclude that Rupert has a talent for being haughty and dismissive of others in various social contexts and as for that, shame on him and he has to own that.

Speaking as a gay man who knows him only from some of his film and stage appearances, I have to say that I have great respect for him as an actor, writer and social activist for gay and sex worker rights. He was delightful onstage in Blithe Spirit (Broadway) and very impressive in The Judas Kiss which I saw in Brooklyn a few years back.

I share his admiration for Oscar Wilde and loved 'The Happy Prince' for it's sympathetic portrayal of Wilde. As writer, director and lead actor, he's to be commended for his talent and appreciated for his stubborn defense of this gay icon at a time when the same type of repugnant and hypocritical political conservatism that treated Wilde so poorly is again resurgent in our country and all over the world.

gays don't want him. let him go play somewhere else...

He is right. And he is an asshole. It's easy to blame him being an asshole being the reason that he career kind of fizzled.

Straight assholes gets chance after chance because they still make someone money. If they no longer make money they get dumped and are forgotten and then have to beg for a comeback. For openly gay actors it's already difficult to have steady career and if you have an asshole reputation studios are less likey to hire you (since they are already not fond of the openly gay part). I can't think of any openly gay actor with an asshole reputation who makes someone money and that's why he still has a career.

So sorry for the many typos in my post at r52

It's easy to blame him being an asshole FOR being the reason that HIS career kind of fizzled.

Straight assholes GET chance after chance because they still make someone money.

For openly gay actors it's already difficult to have A(!) steady career

I forgot about his book. page after page of doucheiness--All Cubans are.... Califonia is... And all this poor mouthing while staying in fancy locales. My guess is that he learned a lot about sponging off others in his rentboy days. The book is very coy about that and his HIV status, although I suspect that most readers were gay men who bought the book to learn about those things. I borrowed it from the library knowing he was going to coy but wondering there was naything else to him. There wasn't. He can do best friend roles--gay or straight but not much beyond that. The straight guys with little talent who get second chances are seen as a having star quality of some sort---eventually they make a enough bombs for that to no longer be enough. Rupert never had that kind of quality. If he hadn't come out as gay he would not have a fan base at all.

Does he yacht?

one of the most odious turds u could ever meet.

Being gay stifles any man or woman's career.

Didn't hurt mine!

Touche

I look at his face now and although intellectually I realize it's a normal aging process with the lines, wrinkles, sagginess I can't help but think of what a ravaging beauty he was in Another Country. How cruel good looks can be.

This guy again. Always blaming the gay on his lack of success, when it's actually his moderate talent and nasty disposition that are to blame. Face it pal, you've gone as far as anyone with your abilities could expect. Maybe even farther.

He's one of the best examples of a pretty boy morphing into a bitter queen.

All that money and Tom Cruise's fake teeth look like something he bought off the rack in the Walmart novelty aisle.

I don't think his face would have aged well either way. He was beautiful but in a sort of odd way. Even with whatever he had done surgery-wise there was no saving that face.

What's that nasty looking stuff around his teeth at the gum line? Gingivitis?

Seeing photos of him even from his co called heyday he NEVER looked appealing to me.

Homophobia in Hollywood and Fake Girlfriends for Leonardo DiCaprio at '5:00

Fuck DiCaprio

"Sure you can survive in tv and on the gay theatre curcuit, but as to a romantic lead or a lead in general in a major motion picture, sorry no way."

He wasn't playing Tom Cruise roles BEFORE he came out, either

"This is what Matt Damon was trying to say when Al-Gayda attacked him."

They attacked him because he was wrong. Coming out did not hurt Everett's career, since he wasn't getting great roles before he came out

R69 Coming out did not hurt Everett's career, since he wasn't getting great roles before he came out

and after coming out he didn't get any roles!

What about Whishaw and Stewart?

"and after coming out he didn't get any roles!"

Wrong! And before he came out, he was mostly doing small movies that no one had ever heard of

RUPERT STIFLED RUPERT...

His narration of Cecil Beaton's words (letters and diaries) in LOVE, CECIL (rawther good documentary) is just excruciating. And he sounds nothing like Beaton.

His assholiness is what doomed him over time. He really is the opposite of humble and genuine. Maybe someone can bring back Hollywood Squares and he can try being the Center Square for the next ten years to rehab his career, although he would view this as purgatory. It is his best hope.

Hey back off Rupert what about DL’s favorite Luke “Aids Dick” Evans - if you want to talk about assholes!!!!!

He use to brag about being a vain gym nazi and how important looks are to him — karma was waiting

He sounds shallow

Hot back in the day before all the plastic surgery