Harry Hamlin says that playing a gay man in 1982 “ended” his film career — but he still stands behind the movie, which he says was “way ahead of its time.”
Hamlin, 70, is reflecting on the 40th anniversary of “Making Love,” a film described by 20th Century Studios, then known as 20th Century Fox, as “one of the most honest and controversial films we ever released.”
In the film, one of the first mainstream Hollywood dramas to bring to the forefront the issue of same-sex love, Hamlin played the role of an openly gay novelist who had an affair with a married doctor (Michael Ontkean). The affair leads the man to divorce his wife, a television executive played by Kate Jackson.
In a recent interview with People, the stage, film and television actor said that he was advised by “a lot of people” not to do the movie.
“I think it had been offered to pretty much everybody in town and everyone had turned it down because they thought it might be damaging to their careers,” he said.
But Hamlin, who’s married to actress and reality TV star Lisa Rinna, 58, said that he saw the role as a good career move and went for it.
“I was looking for something serious and something meaningful, rather than doing a movie about vampire bats invading a small town in the Midwest, which is the type of fare I was being offered at the time,” he said.
His agent encouraged him to do it, saying that “everyone knows you’re straight so you’re going to be OK.”
Despite many of his friends warning him about the possible consequences, Hamlin said that he “didn’t really pay much attention to any of that noise. I thought it was interesting and bold. I was attracted to that.”
However, after the movie was poorly received by audiences and panned by critics, Hamlin says that his performance was ignored.
“[The film] never really got the attention that I think it probably deserves, given the time in which it was released,” he said.
“As far as the film business sort of shutting the door, I think it just had to do with the fact of the studio system being a closed system and once they saw there could be some confusion about my sexuality, then they just said they didn’t want to take the chance,” he said.
“If they were contemplating having me be a love interest to a young female star, the thought was, ‘How is the audience going to react?’ Even though I was straight, I think the perception at the time was that anybody who could play gay must be gay,” he added.
But the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated performer — who first caught the film industry’s attention in 1981 after starring as Perseus in the Greek mythology classic “Clash of the Titans” — said that he was eventually able to overcome that initial backlash.
“Regardless of the effect it had on my film career, I went on to have a great career — and I still do. I’m very proud of having done that movie,” added Hamlin, who ended up becoming a big TV star in 1986, as part of the main cast of the hit legal drama series “L.A. Law.”
“I’m interested in working as an actor. I happen to think that TV is where it’s at right now. As long as the part is good, I’ll do it,” he said.
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