Dustin Lance Black: ‘I don’t see beards in Hollywood anymore’
By Will Stroude
Dustin Lance Black has said that he doesn’t come across gay actors with staged girlfriends, or “beards”, in Hollywood anymore.
In the latest issue of Attitude, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and director argues that today, young gay actors are generally more open about their sexuality while establishing their careers.
“I certainly don’t see what I was seeing 10 or 15 years ago which was the staged girlfriends, you know, the ‘beards of Hollywood phenomenon’,” Black explains.
“It was always funny logging on to a website or looking at a magazine on a newsstand and seeing that a good friend had a girlfriend all of a sudden! Those photos always looked incredibly staged and those actors, I’ve found, didn’t have the most lasting careers,” he adds.
You can read the full interview with Dustin Lance Black – in which he also discusses his work on the Oscar-winning Harvey Milk biopic Milk, gay representation on TV and why he’s proud of his partner Tom Daley – in the new issue of Attitude.
The latest issue – The Film Special – also includes interviews with former Welsh international rugby player Gareth Thomas and his partner Ian, as well as former Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle and Pride star Ben Schnetzer.
You can download it to your mobile, iPad or tablet device now at Pocketmags.com/Attitude, and you’ll be able to pick up a copy in shops from next Wednesday (September 17).
