Terrence Howard Rejected Marvin Gaye Role Because He Refuses To Kiss A Man

Terrence Howard, the actor, turned down the role of Marvin Gaye in a biopic because he said he was not willing to kiss another man. Howard said that he would have “cut my lips off” if he filmed a homosexual scene with another man while playing the late soul singer.

Speaking to Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast, the actor said the “biggest mistake” of his career was turning down the leading role in a separate biopic of the singer Smokey Robinson – which Robinson had personally asked him to play.

That decision was made because he was already in talks with the director Lee Daniels to play Gaye in a film, but became alarmed when he began to learn of rumours about the Let’s Get It On singer’s sexuality.

“I was over at Quincy Jones’s house,” Howard told Maher, “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.’”Howard said that this meant he could no longer star in the film. “They would’ve wanted to do that, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Maher clarified: “You mean you couldn’t kiss a guy on screen in a movie?” to which Howard replied: “No. Because I don’t fake it.”

“That would fuck me,” he added. “I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off.” Howard went on to say that “it does not make me homophobic to not want to kiss a man,” and sought to clarify that he would have felt unable to sufficiently commit to the role.“I can’t play that character 100%. I can’t surrender myself to a place that I don’t understand.”

Gaye was shot dead by his father in 1984, when the singer was 44. He did not publicly comment on his sexuality, was married twice, and had three children (one by adoption).

Author: Seyi Awoleye

Los-Angeles, USA

seyiawoleye@yahoo.com