Harry Hamlin Thinks That Playing Gay In 1982’s “Making Love” Ruined His Career

These days, when straight dudes play bi or gay, they get awards, like Rami Malek who won an Oscar for playing Freddie Mercury, and Taron Egerton who won a Golden Globe for playing Elton John. But Harry Hamlin thinks that playing a homosexual in 1982’s drama Making Love ended his career. I don’t know what he means, he was on an episode of Law & Order: SVU in 2014–that’s booked and busy!

Making Love is about a writer named Bart (played by Harry) who falls in love with a young doctor named Zack, (played by Michael Ontkean) who is married to a female TV executive (played by Kate Jackson). The movie was the first of its kind for a major studio to make. But while 70-year-old Harry tells People that it was “way ahead of its time” he also thinks that it fucked with his career in a bad way:

“I was told by a lot of people, you can’t do that movie,” says the actor reflecting on the film’s 40th anniversary. “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… I didn’t see it that way… 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.”

“It was way ahead of its time… Even though I was told by my friends not to do it, my agent said I should.. He said I was somewhat Teflon because I was out in the press having had a son with Ursula Andress. (Their son, Dmitri Hamlin is now 41.) And he said, “Everyone knows you’re straight so you’re going to be okay.” But I didn’t really pay much attention to any of that noise. I thought it was interesting and bold. I was attracted to that.”

Harry says that the film “ended my film career” and he stopped getting calls. He realized that the gay love story was the last time he worked for a major movie studio:

“I’ve done independent films but never a studio film. I had been doing nothing but studio films and basically going out on all the castings for all the movies. That stopped completely.”

Harry also thinks there needs to be some justice for Making Love and believes that it “never really got the attention that I think it probably deserves.” At the time of its release, the film was panned by critics and reviews were worse than House of Gucci. But Harry goes on to say that his career hasn’t been a dud since he booked LA Law four years after playing gay and has continued to work:

“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.”

Well, playing gay may have been bad for Harry at one time but at least life came back full circle. Because if Harry Hamlin lost straight female fans over playing gay, those fans are probably all buying dusters from his wife Lisa Rinna on QVC and laughing at Lisa Rinna saying that Harry’s got a secret gay lover in the Valley.

Pic: 20th Century Fox