Terrence Howard passed on playing Marvin Gaye over gay kiss requirement: ‘I would cut my lips off’

Terrence Howard has revealed he turned down the opportunity to play the late soul singer Marvin Gaye in a biopic because the role would have required him to kiss another man on screen.

In a recent interview with the Club Random podcast, Howard told host Bill Maher that director Lee Daniels had offered him the role of Gaye but he felt he “could not” play the singer because he had heard rumours that he was gay.

Howard explained he got in touch with legendary record producer Quincy Jones to corroborate the rumours: “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.

Upon understanding that such a role would require him to kiss a man, Howard counted himself out of the film (which ultimately never came to fruition).

“They would’ve wanted to do that, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that,” he explained, elaborating it was “because I don’t fake it”.

Howard was emphatic in his aversion to kissing another man, but took pause to note that he is not homophobic.

“If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off” – Terrence Howard

“That would f*** me,” the Oscar-nominated actor said. “I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off.”

“It does not make me homophobic to not want to kiss a man,” the Empire star added.

“That’s fine, do what you love to do, but don’t do it at me, don’t aim it at me,” he went on. “I can’t play that character 100%, I can’t. I can’t surrender myself to a place I don’t understand.”

As a result of turning down Daniels’ offer to play Gaye, Howard later felt he was obliged to also pass on the chance to play Smokey Robinson in a separate biopic because he “was being faithful to Lee Daniels because I had given him my word as man”.

He lamented to Maher that turning down the role of Robinson, which the musician had personally asked him to play, was the “biggest mistake” of his career.