‘Clash of the Titans’ star Harry Hamlin says playing a gay writer ended his career
The actor starred in the 1982 movie 'Making Love'
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
Clash of the Titans star Harry Hamlin says playing a gay writer in 1982 ended his career.
The 68-year-old actor was in-demand in Hollywood at the time and was offered a three-picture deal from Warner Bros, according to the It Happened in Hollywood podcast.
However, after learning that two movies they had in mind were Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and First Blood, the actor turned down the deal and went on to make the 1981 Greek-myth epic Clash of the Titans.
After starring as Perseus in the epic, Hamlin read for the role of a gay writer in the big-screen drama Making Love, which was set to be a groundbreaking film about a same-sex affair, marking the first kind for a major studio.
Hamlin said: “Everyone in town had turned the movie down. Because at that time the idea of a gay world was still not accepted.”
After reading the script, Hamlin decided to take the part as he was looking to do something that was ‘relevant and cutting edge’.
Although the script was toned down considerably from the one he signed on for, the film did feature 20th Century Fox’s first ever man-on-man kiss between Hamlin and his co-star Michael Ontkean.
While the film had a modest box office success, Hamlin claims the movie offers stopped once the picture came out and he didn’t work again until 1986.
Speaking about the impact the film had, Hamlin says it “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.”
Check out the same-sex kiss scene below: