Iron Man star Terrence Howard revealed that he declined a biopic portraying soul singer icon Marvin Gaye because it would have required him to kiss a man.
Howard revealed his dilemma on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, saying that he would have cut off his lips if he kissed a man to play Marvin Gaye.
According to Howard, he was previously in talks to play Smokey Robinson before he turned it down to play Marvin Gaye in a biopic directed by Lee Daniels; however, the more he got into studying Gaye’s life, the more he realized that he would have to explore the singer’s sexuality on screen.
“I was over at Quincy Jones’ house and I’m asking Quincy, ‘I’m hearing rumors that Marvin was gay’ and I’m like, ‘Was he gay?’ And Quincy’s like, ‘Yes,'” said Howard.
Howard said the filmmakers wanted him to kiss a man for the role and he just couldn’t bring himself to say yes.
“They would’ve wanted to do that, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that,” he said.
You mean you couldn’t kiss a guy on screen in a movie?” asked Maher.
“No. Because I don’t fake it,” Howard responded. “That would fuck me. I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off.”
Maher said that he understand why Howard might feel uncomfortable.
“It does not make me homophobic to not want to kiss a man,” exclaimed Howard.
“I can’t play that character 100 percent,” Howard added. “I can’t surrender myself to a place that I don’t understand.”
Howard’s revelation comes roughly one year after he alleged that Creative Artists Agency (CAA) owes him over $120 million for his work on Empire, asserting he had been paid less than his “white counterparts” working in television.
Speaking with the Straight Talk YouTube channel at the time, Howard said he sued CAA for $120 million – an amount owed for his six seasons on Empire.
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