Once, it was considered very dangerous to be out in Hollywood. Theater and show business has been a haven for LGBT folks dating back to the Renaissance, when the highly-trained male actors who played women onstage were often subject to suspicion about their sexuality. Many jokes have been made about straight men being a rarity in the business, especially on the stage. But for many years, an actor’s sexuality was kept secret if he wasn’t straight – such legends as Rock Hudson and James Dean are confirmed to have had relationships with men, and the landscape was never much better for women. Being out is more acceptable today, but many actors still have their sexualities kept secret or swept under the rug. Here are some queer stars you probably assumed were straight.
1. Angelina Jolie
A household name and member of the A-list since the mid-90s for Hackers, Angelina Jolie has also dabbled in directing with 2011’s The Land of Milk and Honey and is famed for her philanthropic work. She’s also the daughter of Jon Voight and was named the highest paid actress in Hollywood by Forbes in 2009, 2011, and 2013. Much has been made of some of Jolie’s past relationships including her divorces from Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, and of course, she made headlines with her marriage to Brad Pitt this summer after a relationship that started in 2005. But in 1996, on the set of Foxfire, Jolie met model-actress Jenny Shimizu, who is an out lesbian. Jolie has confirmed their relationship many times, saying “I fell in love with her the second I saw her.
I probably would have married Jenny if I hadn’t married [first husband Jonny Lee Miller].” Shimizu has also commented on their relationship, claiming it went on for many years. In 2003, when asked if she was bisexual, Jolie answered “Of course. If I fell in love with a woman tomorrow, would I feel that it’s okay to want to kiss and touch her? If I fell in love with her? Absolutely! Yes!”
I probably would have married Jenny if I hadn’t married [first husband Jonny Lee Miller].” Shimizu has also commented on their relationship, claiming it went on for many years. In 2003, when asked if she was bisexual, Jolie answered “Of course. If I fell in love with a woman tomorrow, would I feel that it’s okay to want to kiss and touch her? If I fell in love with her? Absolutely! Yes!”
I probably would have married Jenny if I hadn’t married [first husband Jonny Lee Miller].” Shimizu has also commented on their relationship, claiming it went on for many years. In 2003, when asked if she was bisexual, Jolie answered “Of course. If I fell in love with a woman tomorrow, would I feel that it’s okay to want to kiss and touch her? If I fell in love with her? Absolutely! Yes!”
2. Drew Barrymore
First coming on the scene at the age of three, Drew Barrymore was born Hollywood royalty and had her big break at the tender age of 7 as the cutie with the scream in 1982’s E.T. After a turbulent childhood marked by drugs, alcohol, and stints in rehab, Barrymore successfully made the transition from childhood star to serious adult actress, returning to prominence in 1995 with Boys on the Side. She’s had a series of relationships with men, including two failed engagements and a marriage that lasted less than three months, all before her twentieth birthday. She was briefly married to Tom Green in 2001, and had relationships with Fabrizio Moretti, drummer of The Strokes, and actor Justin Long in the 2000s, before marrying her current husband in 2011 and having two children with him. Less publicized, however, was a relationship with former magazine editor Jane Pratt in the mid-1990s, confirmed publicly by Pratt in 2007. That hasn’t been confirmed by Barrymore, but in 2003, she said “Do I like women sexually? Yeah, I do. Totally. I have always considered myself bisexual.”
Being with a woman is like exploring your own body, but through someone else. When I was younger I used to go with lots of women. Totally. I love it.” In 2004, she went on to say “A woman and a woman together are beautiful, just as a man and a woman together are beautiful.
3. Cynthia Nixon
Best known for her role as Miranda Hobbes in Sex and the City, the TV series credited with changing the landscape of American sexuality, and its two films, Cynthia Nixon has won two Emmys, a Grammy, and a Tony. She made her debut in 1979 at the age of twelve in an after-school special, and most recently appeared on screen in TV’s Hannibal as FBI investigator Kade Prurnell. From 1988 to 2003, Nixon was in a relationship with a schoolteacher named Danny Mozes, with whom she has two children. In 2004, however, Nixon began dating activist Christine Marinoni. They married in New York in 2012 after becoming engaged in 2009, and have a son together. In 2007, Nixon commented on her sexual orientation: “I don’t really feel I’ve changed. I’d been with men all my life, and I’d never fallen in love with a woman. But when I did, it didn’t seem so strange. I’m just a woman in love with another woman.”
She took a lot of heat for saying homosexuality is a choice, but later claimed she’d been quoted out of context and clarified: “While I don’t often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have ‘chosen’ is to be in a gay relationship.”
4. Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson began working as an actress at the age of nineteen, making her debut on Law and Order in 1994. She didn’t hit the big time until 2006, however, playing Harriet Hayes in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the short-lived Aaron Sorkin drama about the inner workings of a late night comedy show. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for that role as one of the stars of the titular show, a devout Christian in a long-term relationship with one of the show-within-a-show’s executive producers. Most recently, she’s appeared in every season to date of American Horror Story, a show that began in 2011 and tells a different story in a different subgenre of horror in every season. However, her most notable role remains that of the homophobic comedienne in Studio 60, which is ironic, because she’s been out as bisexual since 2007.
She began dating actress Cherry Jones in 2004, publicly confirming their relationship in ’07 before their breakup in 2009. In 2013, she said she’d only dated men before that relationship, and that she was open to relationships with both men and women going forward.
5. Amber Heard
Born in Texas, Amber Heard dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen to move to New York and pursue a modeling career, moving to Los Angeles a year later for a switch to acting. She started acting in 2004, making her big break in 2008 with roles in Never Back Down and Pineapple Express. With several TV roles also under her belt, Heard is a sex symbol who often makes “sexiest” and “most beautiful” lists in magazines, most recently being ranked #53 in Maxim’s Hot 100 in 2012. Heard met actor Johnny Depp in 2010 while filming The Rum Diary and the pair have been dating since 2012, becoming engaged on Christmas Eve 2013.
However, she had a relationship with photographer Tasya van Ree and came out as having had relationships with women in 2010 at GLAAD’s 25th anniversary event. Heard rejects labels, though, quoted as saying “I don’t label myself one way or another—I have had successful relationships with men and now a woman. I love who I love; it’s the person that matters.”
6. Ellen Page
Ellen Page started getting attention for her cute, boyish looks and acting chops after starring in Hard Candy in 2005, but made her big break in 2007 as the titular character in Juno, for which she was nominated for many awards. She’s also known for her roles as Kitty Pryde in the X-Men films, Ariadne in Inception, and Bliss Cavendar in Whip It. For many years, the Canadian actress kept mum about her personal life for the most part but spoke openly about being a pro-choice feminist and living a vegan lifestyle, leading to speculation from the media, but especially from the queer community. She confirmed the rumors on Valentine’s Day 2014 at the Human Rights Campaign’s Time to Thrive conference, visibly nervous as she said “I’m here today because I am gay. And because maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility.”
She also said in this beautiful speech, “I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I’m standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of that pain.”
7. Guillermo Diaz
Currently seen as Huck on the television show Scandal, Guillermo Diaz was born to Cuban parents in New Jersey and made his Hollywood debut in 1994. He made waves as Guillermo Garcia Gomez, a Mexican drug dealer and trafficker in season two through six of the critically acclaimed TV show Weeds, then went on to portray gay nurse Angel Garcia in the TV show Mercy, which ran for one season in 2009. Despite his on-screen image as various Latino gangsters, cholos (Mexican thugs), and other tough men, Diaz is openly gay. Coming from a rough neighborhood in New York City and the hypermasculine, very religious Latino culture, Diaz has said it was necessary to hide his sexual orientation as a teen. He told Out magazine in 2009, “That facade of being somebody I’m really not just to protect myself definitely helped with acting.” He’s been openly gay for his entire career, although early on, his managers tried to push back.
“I just don’t have the patience for that shit. It seems like so much fuckin’ work to keep lying. I remember them saying, ‘We need to build up your body count.’ They wanted me to kill more people on film. I was like, ‘You guys would rather I kill more people on film than tell people I’m gay?’ Needless to say, I’m not with them anymore.” The decision was easy for him, he says, and worked out fine, proving that even with such a tough-guy image as his, being openly gay is far from the career suicide it may have once been. “I never even thought about it. I was like, I’m just going to act. And it’s never been an issue. I’ve worked constantly.”
8. Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez got everyone’s attention in 2000 with the indie movie Girlfight, playing a tough, troubled boxer. Her films have grossed over five billion dollars, and she’s considered one of the most iconic action film actresses in Hollywood, as well as one of the most famous Latina actresses. She’s also made news for her troubles with the law, mostly related to alcohol, DUIs, and speeding (not surprising, given her role as Letty Ortiz in the Fast and the Furious movies). She’s dated co-stars Vin Diesel and Olivier Martinez, but in 2006, she told Cosmopolitan that she had experimented with both sexes. Later that year, openly bisexual co-star Kristanna Loken seemed to say that she and Rodriguez were in a relationship, but neither actress ever confirmed it officially. She criticized a magazine in 2007 for putting words in her mouth when it called her bisexual, but in 2013 she opened up about her sexuality. “I’ve gone both ways. I do as I please. I am too curious to sit here and not try when I can. Men are intriguing. So are chicks.” In May 2014, she said “Maybe by me opening my big fat mouth like I usually do and stepping up and owning who I am, maybe it might inspire somebody else to do the same.” Later that month, she put the word to it, saying “Bi, yeah. I fall under the B category of LGBT.”
