A biopic of the first openly homosexual US politician could be celebrating Oscar glory. Michele Manelis reports
KEY POINTS:
It was considered a brave move in 1993 when Tom Hanks took on the role of a gay man with Aids in Philadelphia. In doing so, he walked away with his first Oscar.
In 2005, it was widely regarded as career suicide when movie star heart-throbs Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal donned cowboy hats to play homosexual lovers in the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain. Their heartbreaking performance (which earned Ledger an Oscar nomination) made it acceptable for young Hollywood actors to play authentic gay characters - without any perceived stigma.
Now, in Milk, Sean Penn's moving performance as gay rights activist Harvey Milk, the first openly homosexual American to be voted into public office, is following Hanks and Ledger in this year's Oscar race.
Directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For), the film was a personal journey for this openly gay director.
"It was important to make this film because people have forgotten the story of Harvey Milk and what he did for the gay community. You have to remember, before 1969, you'd be put in prison for seven to 10 years if you danced with another man on a dance floor," says Van Sant.
With a stellar cast which includes James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin and Diego Luna, the movie traces the time period of Milk's life from the age of 40 in New York City, 1970, to his move to San Francisco two years later where he would be eventually sworn into office as Supervisor, alongside San Francisco Mayor Moscone (Victor Garber).
They were both assassinated in 1978.
The movie was shot in San Francisco and features actual footage of televised news reports - including the famously homophobic singer, Anita Bryant, proclaiming the evils of homosexuality.
Says Van Sant: "I'm sure Brokeback Mountain had a large effect on our film, because it wasn't easy getting this movie made and it took many years to get it going. Movies are a business venture and the numbers have to click with the audience. Brokeback was a business model that said 'a gay story can make $80 million'.
"That was good enough for the studio. Without Brokeback, we might not have ever found the money." And after Ledger and Gyllenhaal's visceral sex scenes, today's actors would be a lot less reluctant to be physical on-screen.
Says James Franco, who plays Penn's boyfriend, "Yes, Brokeback did change things. Of course, being physical with a guy was definitely something new for me. But to say it's courageous to play this role because there are bigoted people out there, well, if I'm doing anything to fight that, then I'm happy to do it," he says.
After an awkward silence, he adds, laughing, "It was okay kissing Sean. But it wasn't fulfilling any lifelong dream and I don't dream of doing it again."
Despite our "enlightened" era, gay Hollywood actors are staying locked in the closet. Says Van Sant, "If the audience is 80 per cent heterosexual, they like to make films about heterosexual love stories.
"To me, it's about commerce, in America, anyway. I don't think it's necessarily the same in other countries."
One example of coming out which proved risky to a growing career was British actor Rupert Everett, who rose to Hollywood success with his "gay confidante" roles opposite Julia Roberts and Madonna, in My Best Friend's Wedding and The Next Best Thing, respectively.
Despite his many previous heterosexual leading man roles, Everett has said his decision to expose his sexual orientation meant he was overlooked for the James Bond role.
Says Van Sant, "If it were common for us to have 'out' gay actors and cast them - which is how it should be - then they [studio heads] would be fine.
"Change happens slowly because it's so much like Las Vegas here in Hollywood, in that the industry is a gamble. They make their bets based on things like: 'We can't cast Rupert because he is gay and it won't work."' He shrugs his shoulders.
"We still don't have many 'out' gay actors. We have Rupert Everett and we have Alan Cumming. We had Anne Heche - for a little while."
And of course it works the other way, too. "Certainly, Alan Cumming could have played Harvey Milk but as the lead character, he doesn't get the money people interested like Sean Penn.
"They don't want to put their $20 million on Alan so you are left with a lot of other choices of A-list actors that are either not 'out' gay or not gay."
Emile Hirsch, in an impressive performance, plays Cleve Jones, a former street kid who becomes an integral part of Milk's activist campaign (partly redeeming himself for the dreadful Speed Racer).
Recently directed by Penn in the acclaimed Into the Wild, Hirsch says, "I had kind of forgotten about Sean as an actor because I only knew him as the director from Into the Wild. He never acted around me so to suddenly see him in front of the camera rolling, it was a bit like playing a basketball game with your coach.
"But watching Sean... he's got the skills to pay the bills. Sean has an intelligence and intuitiveness that is extraordinary. There was many times where we were doing scenes together where I was like, 'Man, he's so good!"'
Van Sant is optimistic for the future of equality in homosexual life, despite the recent overturning of Proposition 8 in California, making gay marriage illegal.
"Look, a lot of people thought we'd never see an African-American president in our lifetime. It's not out of the realm we'll see a homosexual president in our lifetime, too."
LOWDOWN
What: Milk, the biopic of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk - America's first openly gay politician - starring Sean Penn, directed by Gus Van Sant.
When and where: At cinemas from February 12.
