Don’t get confused by this latest story which has been reported wrongly by other sites.
Michael C. Hall, who played gay character David in Six Feet Under and a trans character in Hedwig And The Angry Itch, recently spoke with The Daily Beast about playing gay and his own sexual orientation.
Unfortunately, some sites are reporting on this interview as “Michael C. Hall Comes Out As Sexually Fluid.” But that is not true at all.
In the interview, Hall talks about what it meant to play such a dynamic gay role in Six Feet Under.
“I suppose I was aware of the time we were in. I was also aware that David was a new kind of gay character on TV, film, or stage. He was a fantastic character and as rich and well-drawn as the larger world he existed within. I never lobbied to audition for any other part.
He then added, “Any role that you are in can pigeonhole you, but to be associated with a role as multi-dimensional as David was a relatively good thing.”
Afterwards, the conversation turned to Hall’s own sexuality and he mentioned how he sees himself on a spectrum… but still identifies definitively as straight.
“I think there’s a spectrum. I am on it. I’m heterosexual. But if there was a percentage, I would say I was not all the way heterosexual. I think playing the emcee required me to fling a bunch of doors wide open because that character I imagined as pansexual.”
Hall then says that he grew up with a desire to be close with a man. But no homo, he means intimacy on an emotional and non-physical level.
“I’ve never had an intimate relationship with a man. I think, maybe because of an absent father, there has definitely been a craving for an emotional intimacy with a man. I don’t mean to suggest that an emotional relationship between a father and son is any way homoerotic. I mean an emotional intimacy or connection that at least in the milieu I grew up in was considered fey. I had an appetite to have emotional connections with men beyond beer, sports, and fist pumping that were considered ‘gay.’”
Keep in mind that Hall’s feelings are valid. Society often restricts intimacy between men as an indicator of homosexuality, which isn’t fair. Men should be able to love and be open with other men without it turning sexual.
That said, this interview with Hall seems to be awkwardly walking the line of celebrating gay representation and distancing the actor from homosexuality.
Part of that can be blamed on the interviewer who constantly asks questions from Hall, a straight man married to Morgan MacGregor, like, “Has he ever had sex with another man?” or “Was he ever attracted to other men?”
If a straight man is constantly being asked questions like that, he may turn on the defensive.
But again, Hall also acts wishy washy as he answers the attraction question with, “No. I mean, I was attracted to John Cameron Mitchell when I saw Hedwig. But no, as a rule I am heterosexual.”
Honestly, this is just a weird interview and situation over all that simultaneously celebrates a gay role, tries to badger an adamantly straight men with questions over his sexual orientation, and shows him trying not to be labeled as gay.
Ultimately, this is a long and messy article that was then picked up on by other sites and misconstrued by them. Michael C. Hall is NOT coming out as sexually fluid and we shouldn’t confuse it as such.
h/t: The Daily Beast
