Terrence Howard recently revealed that he turned down the character of Marvin Gaye in the biopic because the film asked him to kiss another man, something he felt he couldn’t do.
The actor explained in Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast that he said he would not be able to fake such intimacy. “I can’t play this role 100%. I can’t surrender myself to a place I don’t know,” Howard said.
The biopic directed by Lee Daniels has attracted a lot of attention, and it was music producer Quincy Jones who confirmed to Howard that Marvin Gaye was gay. Although the character offers a great opportunity, Howard said the request for homosexual kissing made him uncomfortable.
“I ended up at Quincy Jones’ house and I asked Quincy, ‘I heard rumors that Marvin was gay’, and I thought, ‘Is he gay?’” Howard recalled, asking Jones, who died in November.
“Quncy is like, ‘Yes.’.”
Howard then decides that he can’t “can’t” star in Daniels movie
“They wanted to do that, and I couldn’t do that,” he said.
That’s – me. I’ll cut my lips. If I kiss some men, I’ll cut my lips. ”
Despite Howard’s firm position, he quickly clarified that his rejection of the character did not stem from homophobia. Instead, he emphasizes his own process of preparing for the character, which involves fully understanding and embodying the character.
Howard’s comments inspired conversations about the actors portraying real-life characters and falling into uncomfortable situations for art.
