Antonio Banderas Quotes

It's upsetting that it is such a big deal. I wish it weren't an issue all the time. It's funny that people say it's a departure, because I've been acting since I was a child. I've played three gay roles out of hundreds.

I played a homosexual bodyguard in 'The Last Detective,' and that was quite a pleasure to do something slightly different. I was a very camp bodyguard!

I think every time there's a show like 'Modern Family' or 'Will & Grace' that portray gay and lesbian characters and is successful, it just further opens the door.

I've never played a gay character on screen, so that would be interesting. I've never played a gay character, and that would fascinate me because I'm not gay, so that would interest me.

Now, it's weird not to have gay characters on a show.

I think it's very important that, you know, gay actors get to play gay characters.

I don't mind playing gay because there's a whole plethora of gay roles out there, but if I get asked to play one more Southern hairdresser, I'm going to scream.

I was very surprised that for a while I could only get cast as straight. It was that way for a few years.

Will isn't a screaming queen - that's Jack's part. They needed someone to play the part for America. It's just not the same as Britain. To have a gay character as a lead is risky.

I had played many gay characters before, but they were finite - guest characters in TV shows or characters in plays.

I'm for all kinds of gay rights. I'm almost like a gay man myself.

Many of my early Vines and collaborations were with gay people.

I've been trying to get cast as a lesbian for years.

When I was a kid, there were hardly any gay story lines or characters on television that I recall. Then when I was in college, 'Will & Grace' started up.

The 'Family Ties' role was the first of many gay roles that I've ended up playing. I remember that I made them laugh, and it made me feel good, 'cause it really cracked them up.

I get told a lot that I'm kind of carving my own path. That there are not many actors who are out and are able to play straight and gay, and everyone's OK with it.

I know a lot of gay males who I work with that are fantastic people and I love hanging out with them. But because I hang out and bring gay men into my life, does that mean that I'm gay? I promise you that I very much love women.

If you play a gay role, it sticks more than it does if an actor were to play a murderer or a psychopath.

I kind of cheer the presence of any gay characters at all - I think the more we can saturate television with any gay character or lesbian character or transgender character, I think that's a really great thing. We're kind of getting past the fact that they're the punchline or that they're the novelty.

I grew up in a conservative small town, and the gay characters I saw on TV and in movies when I was growing up were all flamboyant and obnoxious and sometimes kind of annoying.

I'm a nice middle-class girl in real life, and I'm a mom and a grandma, and I usually play sweet characters.

In 'A Few Best Men,' I play a lesbian character. I played the lesbian sister of the bride who ends up kissing a dude at the end, but she was, like, a full-on lesbian in that. And I beat out famous Australian lesbians for the role.

I usually play toffs and soldiers, with a sideline in mass murderers.

The characters I've played that people have noticed included a cross-dresser and a transsexual.

I probably haven't had enough gay characters in my stuff. When you're writing something, you're thinking, 'Why couldn't this person be black, white, gay?'