Harry Hamlin says playing gay character in 1982’s ‘Making Love’ ‘completely ended’ his career

In the 1980s, long before critically acclaimed films like 2017’s “Call Me By Your Name” and 2016’s “Moonlight,” Hollywood had a much different attitude toward LGBTQ romance on screen.

In an interview on the podcast “It Happened in Hollywood” published Saturday, “Clash of the Titans” actor Harry Hamlin described how his career was on the rise in the early ’80s, until he “completely ended” it by playing a gay character in 1982’s “Making Love.”

According to Hamlin, the film, about an affair between a married man and another man, “was too early” for its time.

“It was, like, 10 years too early, I guess, and it completely ended my career,” he said. “That was the last studio picture I ever did. The door shut with a resounding smash.”

Though many actors turned down the chance to star in the film, Hamlin said it was “exactly the kind of movie” he was looking for, because it was “relevant” and “cutting edge.”

“They’d gone out to every major star, and they’d all turned it down, because at that time, the idea of a gay world was still not accepted,” he added.

Hamlin, 68, said he approached the role in a similar way to his other romantic parts. For instance, the actor kept his “tradition” of making a chicken dinner for the person playing his love interest. Only instead of hosting “a leading lady,” this time he had over co-star Michael Ontkean.

“I always had a leading lady over, and we’d talk about the script, and I’d cook dinner for them, and we’d get to know each other that way,” Hamlin said. “So, in this case, I had Michael over for dinner.”Hamlin also shared stories from the set.

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In one anecdote, Hamlin recalled filming the first kiss between his and Ontkean’s characters. The actors decided not to rehearse the moment, so they could experience it for the first time as their characters do.

Before the cameras rolled, however, Hamlin suggested to Ontkean they go for “a really kind of romantic, very soft, only slightly open-mouthed kiss.”

Instead, he said Ontkean “put his hand behind my neck and came in and just shoved his tongue down my throat.”

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Hamlin said though “Making Love” closed doors for him at the time, the film still resonates with fans.

“Not a week goes by when people don’t come up to me and say – and I’m serious about this – in the supermarket, anywhere, on the street, and they thank me for doing that movie,” he said.

USA TODAY has reached out to reps to ask about Ontkean’s experience after the film’s release.

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