12 straight actors who have played multiple gay roles

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Last year was an amazing one for queer actors writing, producing, and starring in queer roles! And while we love to see our queer faves getting some action, we also love a verse king or queen who may identify as straight, but plays one heck of a queer character! Of course there’s the controversy of straight actors being called “brave” for playing queer roles or getting accolades when it was so hard for queer actors to get the same recognition. But out of that reckoning finally came multiple roles for queer actors that not only broke barriers, but painted them with glitter!

However we can’t forget the actors who have gladly forged or taken queer roles in a landscape where having a queer character was unusual or rare. Whether it’s sassy or serious, these actors have redefined what it means to bring authenticity and variety to the acting experience. We wanted to especially highlight actors who have played not or town, but multiple gay roles - the true allies! It’s also important to note that there aren’t a lot of younger people on this list because many of them have already come out. Actors like Riverdale’s Vanessa Morgan, Bella Ramsey, and Noah Schnapp.

This list of 12 heterosexual heavy hitters have brought us some of the best heartwarming or bone-chilling queer moments in film and television.

Nicholas Galitzine

Projects: Red, White & Royal Blue, Mary & George, Handsome Devil, The Craft: Legacy, Legends

For young fans of queer movies and TV, Galitzine is one of the biggest names in straight actors who love to play gay. The hearthrob has played a gay prince, a courtesan, a star rugby player, and more dreamy roles, and continues to sign on for more queer projects. He's still early in his career, so we can't wait to see what queer roles he plays in the future!

Chloë Sevigny

Projects: If These Walls Could Talk 2, Lizzie, We Are Who We Are, Broken Flowers, Party Monster

Sevigny told Q Salt Lake in 2018 that she's drawn to playing "the marginalized, the misunderstood, the outcast," and so she loves to play queer roles. She's also great at it, being the lesbian awakening for many a girl in her roles in films like If These Walls Could Talk 2. Sevigny is an indie darling, and she's also a queer darling, at least when it comes to the roles she plays. Other queer-adjacent roles include playing a trans woman in Hit or Miss and playing Brandon Teena's girlfriend in Boys Don't Cry.

Cate Blanchett

Projects: Carol, Tar, Notes on a Scandal, I’m Not There, The Aviator

I’m sure in some circles Cate Blanchett has been made an honorary lesbian, and we love her for it. She’s championed lesbian roles and stories during times when actual lesbians could hardly get roles and it rarely mattered because their stories weren’t being told anyway. Blanchett always brings grace and authenticity through her actual love for women, even if it’s not romantic.

Ewan McGregor

Projects: Halston, Velvet Goldmine, I Love You Phillip Morris, Birds of Prey (coded)

Whether it’s bringing homosexual terror to Jonathan Rhys Meyers or surviving the clink with Jim Carrey, McGregor knows how to pick queer roles that are quirky, lasting, and fun. As Curt Wild in Todd Haynes’s Velvet Goldmine, McGregor plays a coked-up Billy Idol type who can’t understand why life is so slow. In I Love You Phillip Morris he’s a lovelorn Southern Belle. And in Halston, he plays the titular iconic fashion designer Roy Halston. His dedication and care shine through every performance and it’s a joy watching him work and play.

Julianne Moore

Projects: The Kids Are Alright, Freeheld, Maps to the Stars, Chloe, The Personal Lives of Pippa Lee, The Hours, Psycho

Another iconic actress who’s no stranger to lady loving, Julianne Moore has played several lesbian roles and never shied away from a difficult personality or a character whose morals are less than solid. She also has a long standing director/muse relationship with queer director Todd Haynes and she’s an enormous ally for LGBTQ+ causes on and off screen.

Colin Firth

Projects: A Single Man, Supernova, Mamma Mia

Colin Firth represents a man of an era where men had their secrets and they were not to be questioned, only shamed when their dalliances hit the light of day. Firth brings the exact desperation needed in roles like A Single Man, perfectly garnished in Tom Ford and an all-too telling 500 yard stare. From that he can play that hopeful Harry Bright in Mamma Mia!and then the somber and grieving Sam in the beautifully-crafted Supernova, alongside another queer character portraying icon, Stanley Tucci. The man knows variety and knows how to support a role without overtaking it.

Charlize Theron

Projects: Atomic Blonde, Tully, Monster, Head in the Clouds, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Old Guard, (Furiosa?)

Gael Garcia Bernal

Projects: Bad Education, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Cassandro

Rachel Weisz

Projects: Disobedience, The Favourite, Dead Ringers

Rachel Weisz has always wanted to be a lesbian icon and her nothing less than legendary roles go a long way to seal the deal. After all, she’s accomplished a lot of lesbian bucket list items in a short time! Topping the queen of England? Check. Spitting in Rachel McAdams’s mouth? Check. Possibly pinch hitting for her twin sister’s intimate encounter with her new girlfriend? Check! The absolute joy and bravado that explodes on screen whenever Weisz is engaging in lady loving is a treat for the WLW’s and an example to other straight actors on how it should be done!

Sterling K. Brown

Projects: The Normal Heart, Biosphere, American Fiction, Honk for Jesus Save Your Soul

Natasha Lyonne

Projects: But I’m a Cheerleader, Addicted to Fresno, Orange Is the New Black

Alfonso “Poncho” Herrera

Projects: Sense 8, The Exorcist, Dance of the 41

Alfonso Herrera is a Mexican actor who has graced our screen as Hernando, Lito’s long-suffering love on Sense 8, and as the other hot priest on Fox’s The Exorcist. Both shows were plagued by early cancellation despite their popularity. Herrera saw real fame for his role as Ignacio de la Torre y Mier in Dance of the 41, the heartbreaking dramatization of the real-life event in 1901 Mexico. Herrera always brings a comfort and ease to his roles that showcase just how much he cares for the material.

The author’s content and opinions have not been pre-reviewed, approved or endorsed by Discover.