Once upon a time, playing a queer character was considered ‘brave’ — not because it required emotional depth, but because it might tank your career.
Some actors stepped up. Others bolted.
This list isn’t about actors who politely declined a role. It’s about the ones who let their homophobic freak flag fly — who demanded rewrites, refused kisses, or bailed entirely when queerness entered the chat.
These are the performers who said, “I’ll pretend to do anything — kill, rape, decapitate, insult, belittle, rob — but none of that gay sh*t.”
4. Will Smith — Six Degrees of Separation
Before he was the movie star and sitcom darling he is today, Will Smith once played a gay man.
In Six Degrees of Separation, he plays a gay con artist who finesses his way into New York’s elite circles.
Now, one would imagine that playing a gay character would require someone to do things that gay people do.
No, no one asked Will Smith to have anal sex with a man; the script required him to kiss a male costar.
That’s where he drew the line.
The actor refused to kiss a man on camera because his fans “were not ready” for that. He was fine conning rich white people, but a kiss? That was the real crime.
The script had to be rewritten to accommodate his desires.
3. Mark Wahlberg — Brokeback Mountain
This comes as no surprise to anyone in 2025 that Mark Wahlberg refused to play a gay character.
His life is marred by controversy, from racism to some weird right-wing persona. He is also known for being a devout catholic.
In 2004, a small movie turned out not to be so small after being nominated for numerous Oscars.
That movie is Brokeback Mountain, one of the most celebrated gay romance movies of all time.
Wahlberg revealed in an interview that he’d been offered a role in the film but turned it down. Okay, fair, since he wasn’t the only one to turn it down.
However, the reason he gave was on brand for him. “I met with Ang Lee in that movie, I read 15 pages of the script, and got a little creeped out,” he said. What creeped him out? Simulated sex between two men.
“The spitting on the hand, getting ready to do the thing” triggered him so much that he turned it down.
That must have been so traumatizing; I hope he sought out a therapist.
In retrospect, that was a great outcome because no one wants Mark Wahlberg associated with a classic like Brokeback Mountain.
2. Terrence Howard — Unmade Marvin Gaye Biopic
In the Fox series Empire, Jussie Smollett plays Jamal Lyon, the son of music mogul Lucious Lyon.
The relationship between father and son in the Lee Daniels drama is strained because Jamal is gay and his father is homophobic — like really homophobic.
Terrence Howard plays Lucious, and life imitated art when he revealed in a 2025 podcast appearance that he had turned down a Marvin Gaye biopic because it would have explored Gaye’s sexuality.
“I was over at Quincy Jones’ house, and I’m asking Quincy, ‘I’m hearing rumours that Marvin was gay’ and I’m like, ‘Was he gay?’ And Quincy’s like, ‘Yes,” he told American political commentator Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast.
When Maher sought clarification about why Howard turned down the biopic about the “Sexual Healing” hitmaker, Howard said it was because it would involve kissing a man. A man! Imagine kissing a man!
And then the most outrageous comment came, saying,
“That would f*ck me. I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off.”
He was quick to do damage control by pulling a Kevin Hart when he also turned down a role on Tropic Thunder because the character was gay. He said:
“It does not make me homophobic to not want to kiss a man. I can’t play that character 100%. I can’t surrender myself to a place that I don’t understand.”
Sure buddy! He played a homophobic dad on Empire and then said, ‘Hold my beer’ in real life.
1. Luke Grimes — True Blood
Alan Ball dominated HBO‘s airwaves in the 2000s and the 2010s with shows like True Blood and Six Feet Under.
The former was known for its gore, blasphemy, and sexuality.
Before he starred as the moody, gun-wielding child of the Dutton family in Middle America’s darling Western, Yellowstone, Luke Grimes played a vampire in True Blood.
James was a young, handsome vampire in a relationship with Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll). However, the writers wanted to take the story in a new direction by pairing James with Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), and Grimes could not abide.
The actor departed the show after Season 6, and the role was recast. Nathan Parsons took over, and the storyline proceeded as initially planned.
It was reported that Grimes’ decision caused significant conflict on the show, as he made demands, including a one-sided romance in which his character did not participate.
He was unwilling to do kissing or sex scenes, but the writers refused to accommodate him.
His publicist was willing to die on the hill that Grimes left to pursue other opportunities, and not because gay stuff made him uncomfortable.
True Blood had more bisexual chaos than a Tumblr fanfic. If you wanted to stay straight, you should’ve auditioned for NCIS.
This is a show where Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) had homoerotic dreams about the vampire Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård). If you wanted hetero purity, you were on the wrong set.
It’s okay to turn down a role if the character is gay. Many have done it for various reasons, including currently, where straight actors are staying away from queer roles for authenticity.
These actors, however, were not so benevolent. They viewed gay people and natural gay acts as some insult to themselves or their audience.
However, in 2025, we have sooo many talented queer actors who will gladly tell our stories. Bye freaks!