11 Gay Actors Who Play Straight Characters Onscreen

Acting is all about adopting an imagined mindset and matching the external behaviors of the character portrayed. Even today, certain recesses of society have marked homosexuality as taboo, forcing gay actors to conform to public’s norm. However, nowadays, many gay actors are open about their sexuality and only pretend to be straight when the camera is rolling on a straight character.

1. Neil Patrick Harris

The swagger, style and general coolness of Barney Stinson, character in CBS sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, lines up perfectly with actor Neil Patrick Harris’s overall public persona. But, while Barney is an unashamed pick-up artist and womanizer, Harris is in a committed relationship with actor David Burtka.

2. Jodie Foster

Saying she’s fought for privacy since being a child star as a young prostitute in Taxi Driver, Foster finally acknowledged her former life partner, Sydney Bernard in her speech at the 2013 Golden Globes.

3. Ian McKellen

While Gandalf transcends sexuality as a wise wizard, McKellen has been openly gay for years, and publicly mentioned it on the talk show Anderson.

4. Cynthia Nixon

Cynthia Nixon portrayed Miranda Hobbes in famed Sex and the City, in which four female friends search New York City for sex, men, and happiness. In real life, Nixon’s search for love ended up including a member of the same sex, since coming out as bisexual. Nixon, now married to Christine Marinoni, explained, “I’ve been with men all my life, and I’d never fallen in love with a woman. But when I did, it didn’t seem so strange. I’m just a woman in love with another woman.”

5. Lily Tomlin

Lily Tomlin played the wife and one half of the philosophical duo with Dustin Hoffman, among many other heterosexual appearances. She’s also currently playing Frankie, a hippie art teacher, alongside Jane Fonda in the Netflix series, Grace and Frankie, where their lives are turned upside down when both their husbands announce that they are in love with each other and are leaving their wives. In real life, Tomlin has been with Jane Wagner since 1971.

6. Jim Parsons

Best known for playing Sheldon Cooper on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory, Jim Parsons also played a character dating Zach Braff’s character’s mom in Garden State. In reality, Parsons doesn’t date women at all. He came out in 2012, revealing he’s been in a relationship with a man for 10 years.

7. Victor Garber

Though he’s played straight roles in Sleepless in Seattle, Legally Blonde, and Alias, Victor Garber has been open about his sexuality, coming out publicly in 2012.

8. Matt Bomer

In 2009, Bomer landed his first leading role as heartthrob con-man, Neal Caffrey, who falls in love with beautiful women while internally struggling between choosing a clean life over a criminal one. In reality, Bomer is happily married to publicist Simon Halls.

9. Sarah Paulson

While playing a heterosexual in American Horror Story and 12 Years a Slave, Sarah Paulson has been openly gay, dating actress Cherry Jones for a couple years before they split in 2009.

10. Guillermo Diaz

Guillermo Diaz has played heterosexual characters on Half-Baked and Weedz, and currently does so on ABC’s new drama, Scandal. Apparently, Diaz’s unfortunate compulsion to hide his sexuality attributed to his acting skills. In 2011, he told Out magazine, “I learned to constantly try to cover up the fact I am gay. That facade of being somebody I’m really not just to protect myself definitely helped with acting.”

11. Zachary Quinto

Famous for the role as villain, Sylar, in NBC drama Heroes, and the hero, Spock, in the recent film reboot of Star Trek, Quinto has been openly gay since 2011 and speaks often about achieving equality for the gay community.