The 1980s Are Calling, Apparently

Another day, another story from the trades about Harry Hamlin’s career prospects.

The former L.A. Law actor, People Magazine’s 1987 Sexiest Man Alive, and star of the Ray Harryhausen legendary film Clash of the Titans was recently interviewed about playing gay in the 1980s.

The plastic surgery is from the 1980s as well.

Yes. You read that right.

From the trades:

Hamlin, 68, was an in-demand actor in Hollywood at the time: Warner Bros. had offered him “the Clint” — a three-picture deal named for the one given to Clint Eastwood.…but when Hamlin learned the two movies the studio had in mind for him were Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and First Blood, the Yale-educated actor decided the deal wasn’t for him. (The parts ended up going to Christopher Lambert and Sylvester Stallone, respectively.)

He didn’t want to play Tarzan or Rambo.

So, because he was educated at Yale, and smarter than the average actor, he decided to do something “edgy” with his career.

Playing a Gay Writer Wasn’t a Great Career Move

Hamlin discussed his “edgy” early-career choices on a podcast recently as part of a “media blitz” for a reality show he’s on with his wife, Lisa Rinna, starring plastic people yelling about fake things.

By the way, this is how you know that we as a culture have reached “peak” podcasting: Unimaginative podcast hosts are scrapping the bottom of the barrel to interview former character actors who once had careers in the 1980s.

Corbin Bernsen and Jimmy Smits, and that black fella. We hardly knew you…

From the trades, yet again:

Harry Hamlin says playing a gay writer in the 1982 big-screen drama Making Love put his career on ice for several years.

Hamlin was brought in by director Arthur Hiller (Love Story) to read for 20th Century Fox’s Making Love, which was to be a groundbreaking film about a same-sex affair, the first of its kind for a major studio.

“Everyone in town had turned the movie down,” says Hamlin. “Because at that time the idea of a gay world was still not accepted.” The actor read the script and thought, “This is exactly the kind of movie I’m looking for. I want to do something that’s relevant and cutting edge.”

The actor, looking back now, says the film “was too early. It was 10 years too early, I guess, and it completely ended my career. That was the last studio picture I ever did. The door shut with a resounding smash.”

Apparently, the other thing that turned off Hamlin personally and professionally was that the film was “toned down” during the shooting from its original script.

Which featured sex with a payphone and some other Robert Mapplethorpe level sex acts that you can now get streamed to your phone thirty years later due to the glorious tool of the Internet.

Hamlin concluded his podcast interview thoughts on Making Love with this tidbit, from the interview:

Hamlin had a tradition of cooking a chicken dinner for his female co-stars before shooting commenced, and continued the tradition with his male romantic lead, Michael Ontkean.

“Michael said we have to rehearse the kiss,” Hamlin recalls, referring to their initial kiss — a first for a studio film. Hamlin demurred, saying since it was Ontkean’s character’s first time kissing a man, they should save the moment for when cameras rolled.

Before the scene, Hamlin suggested the kiss be a “soft, only slightly open-mouth kiss.” Ontkean agreed, but when Hiller called action, he “put his hand behind my neck, came in and just shoved his tongue down my throat.”

It makes you wonder where Ontkean is now.

What Are We To Make of All of This?

If this were being reported twenty years ago it would make a stir, but now, in a post-Moonlight, post-Modern Love, post-Ellen cultural and film world, no one cares.

We can see this kind of stuff on our televisions on basic network shows at 6:00 at night.

Our kids have this stuff shoved at them in school, and the celebrity and entertainment culture has long-time moved on from celebrating same-sex everything to celebrating gender dysphoria and mental illness.

We live in a post-Moonlight world, now Hamlin. You’re a day late and a dollar short, buddy.

The real point of this article and interview is two-fold:

  1. We have come a long way since a B-level actor like Hamlin could get run out of Hollywood on a rail for engaging in a same-sex relationship on screen.
  2. Going to Yale doesn’t mean you’re smart, can read the tea leaves, or know what’s going on in the overall, non-Hollywood, cultural zeitgeist enough to avoid a bomb when it’s being armed.

In fact, the larger lesson might be: stop sending your kids to Ivy League schools.