Harry Hamlin says playing a gay man in Making Love “ended” his career

[quote]It was initially dismissed by critics, but has since been regarded as one of the most groundbreaking queer films in history.

"Queer"? Really? He said he played a gay man. I remember him playing a gay man. "Queer"?

The fact that he’s not a good actor had nothing to do with it?

My thought is there's already a long DL thread on this.

He was a hot beefcake.

Here's what I got out of this thread that I don't believe was in the other one-

[quote] However, Making Love was “exactly the kind of movie” he was searching for at that point in his career. “I wanted to do something that’s relevant and edgy, cutting edge,” he explained, before revealing that he failed to work in major films after.

[quote] Despite this, Hamlin is proud of the film. He continued further: “Not a week goes by that people don’t come up to me, and I’m serious about this, in the supermarket, on the street and they thank me for making that movie.”

So at least he felt the risk was in some way worth it. I previously thought he felt that he should never had make the film because it didn't attract a substantial audience (and despite what the OP article says) the film itself was not "one of the most groundbreaking queer films in history." If so, he would have sacrificed his career for nothing, but apparently he's not quite that bitter about it, so good for him.

The part I don't understand is why Hollywood blacklisted him for playing gay in a film that not many saw? How could the audience hate him and typecast him when hardly anyone saw the film? Just cut his fucking hair and put him another film and no one would have recognized him. What's missing from this story is casting directors or producers from that time anonymously confirming that they or others in Hollywood axed him from roles because of the gay stank from Making Love. That discussion would be interesting, and if it were done on background maybe people would talk honestly about what happened behind the scenes.

R5 they may have not went to see it but they knew about it. That is all it took.