Terrence Howard has revealed the line that he refuses to cross when it comes to choosing roles.
The story began with Motown pioneer Smokey Robinson, who Howard claims invited him to dinner years ago because "he wanted me to play his life" in a movie. Howard said his great regret was turning Robinson down, because he was already in "conversation with Lee Daniels about playing Marvin Gaye" in a separate project.
But in the end, Howard portrayed neither of the legendary musicians, sharing that he stepped back from the Gaye project when he discovered how the singer's sexuality would be explored.
"I was over at Quincy Jones' house and I’m asking Quincy, 'I’m hearing rumors that Marvin was gay' and I’m like, 'Was he gay?,'" Howard recalled. "And Quincy’s like, 'Yes.'"
From there, Howard decided that he "could not" play the role.
"They would’ve wanted to do that, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that,” he said of portraying a gay relationship.
"You mean you couldn’t kiss a guy on screen in a movie?" Maher asked, to which Howard replied, "No. Because I don’t fake it."
"I couldn't kiss a man either," Maher agreed.
Howard took it further, adding, "That would f--- me. I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off."
This gave Maher pause, with the podcast host quickly clarifying that while he would not go to the same drastic lengths, he understands Howard's rejection of the role. He added, "It does not make me homophobic to not want to kiss a man."