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Sean Penn Wins SAG Award and Other Showbiz News

Sean Penn won a Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) award for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in the bio-pic Milk.

Penn commented on the rather substantial bulge on the statue.

He also went on to say “As actors we don’t play gay, straight …we play human beings. I’m so appreciative of this acknowledgment. This is a story of equal rights for all human beings.” The movie which dominated the awards was Slumdog Millionaire, which won for best cast in a movie.

The SAG awards are the only awards show which really include nominations and awards for ensemble casts.

Sean Penn is not the only actor who has played a gay character.

Jim Carey and Ewan McGregor play love interests in the upcoming movie I Love You Philip Morris which is based upon a real life incident about a man who falls in love with his cell mate while in jail and escapes four times in order to be with his lover. Some critics worry that the film will be a problematic sell given that it is an overtly gay love story. However, they do like the film.

Several straight actors have played gay, lesbian or trans characters over the last few decades without incident, and without any problem in their careers.

For Carey, this movie makes his first foray into doing so, but McGregor is an old hand at playing gay characters. Adding into that list are Tom Hanks, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, and a much longer list. The notion that audiences may not like a movie due to a gay, lesbian or trans story line may be old thinking. While Milk has not been a blockbusting success the same way, say, The Dark Knight has been, it certainly has achieved a certain amount of commercial success, and a great deal of critical acclaim.

Nicole Kidman is set to start in the upcoming movie The Danish Girl, the story of 1930, Einar Wegn Wegeneener Ir, who was born male, underwent surgery to become a woman, and is one of the first transsexuals on record. She then changed her name to Lili Elbe. She died a year later after her final surgery due to complications while attempting to transplant a uterus into her body.

Pictured- Sean Penn as Harvey Milk from his Wikipedia page.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-sag26-2009jan26,0,3065197.story
http://www.motherjones.com/riff_blog/archives/2009/01/11985_sean_penn_strai.html
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20090120/ten-uk-sundance-carrey-90f61ed.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7719598.stm

Sei is a trans-lesbian who lives in Vermont and has a strong passion for LGBTI rights. She has a BA in History and her hobbies include sci-fi, anime, fantasy, action movies, video games, and more. You can visit her Blogger profile here.

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