Straight Actors Who Won Awards Playing Gay Characters

Charlize Theron in Monster (2003)

The (unrecognizable) Theron scooped up an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actress.

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Naya Rivera in Glee (2009-2015)

“Santana Lopez” has earned Rivera several trophies for her living room, including a ALMA Award, NewNowNext and People’s Choice Award.

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Eric McCormack in Will & Grace (1998–2006)

McCormack was convincingly to worldwide audiences as a gay man (Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2001) and as a good husband as he’s been married to Janet Holden since 1997.

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Sean Penn in Milk (2008)

Penn’s 2009 Academy Award for Best Actor makes his real-life bigotry even more puzzling.

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Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

Swank won the first of her two Best Actress Awards when she tackled the nationally covered Brandon Teena story.

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Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)

Imagine winning an Academy, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Satellite Award for the same movie–and then overdosing on drugs. That was PSH’s reality.

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Nelsan Ellis in True Blood (2008–2014)

The fantastically flamboyant “Lafayette” earned Ellis a NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series” in 2011.

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Eric Stonestreet in Modern Family (2009–)

“Cameron Tucker” has two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2010, 2012) and he dominated the Screen Actors Guild Award equivalent from 2011–14.

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Colin Firth in A Single Man (2009)

Firth’s work as a gay college professor landed a BAFTA Award and Volpi Cup (Venice Film Festival) into his lap.

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Laurel Holloman in The L Word (2004–2009)

Holloman’s Golden Satellite Award in 2005 proved she really made her mark on the show with such a popular cast.

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Darren Criss in Glee (2010–2015)

Criss’ Blaine Anderson grabbed a Teen Choice Award in 2011 (among other LGBT honors).

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Jared Leto in Dallas Buyer’s Club (2013)

The 2013 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor belonged to Leto after he channeled his inner trans woman.

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Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right (2010)

Bening’s role as the uptight half of a lesbian couple earned her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2010. On a related note, Julianne Moore won a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for her portrayal in The Hours.

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Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive (2001)

The beautifully creepy character of Watts brought in a National Society of Film Critics Online Film Critics Society Award shortly after the film was released.

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Greg Kinnear in As Good As It Gets (1997)

Kinnear racked up a plethora of Best Supporting Actor nods for his role in the famous film but only took home one from Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards.

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Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal helped bring in the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 78th Academy Awards.

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Tom Hanks In Philadelphia (1994)

Hanks won the first of his Academy Awards while simulatenously raising awareness of discrimination in the workplace.

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Michael K. Williams in The Wire (2002–2008)

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