Spiegel Stuff: The Queer Oscar History That Wasn’t

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The Queer Oscar History That Wasn't

Perhaps if we'd known what was coming we would have appreciated the gravity of the moment a bit more. In 1999 Ian McKellen was nominated for best actor in a leading role for Gods and Monsters, becoming the first openly gay actor to be Oscar-nominated—and for playing a gay character, no less. The fictional take on the final days of director James Whale, who made the original 1931 Frankenstein among others, taps into the rich history of gay Hollywood, and provides McKellen what might still be his best screen role.

McKellen made history at those Oscars, though he didn't win, and made it again in 2002 when he was nominated for best supporting actor in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Despite the significant expansion of queer representation in Hollywood since, McKellen also remains the last openly gay man to be Oscar-nominated. On this week's Little Gold Men podcast the hosts discuss the historic significance of Gods and Monsters, and how Hollywood history might have changed had McKellen taken home the Oscar that night instead of Roberto Benigni. Then again, given Oscar's history of achieving historic breakthroughs that aren't repeated again for decades, maybe nothing would have changed after all.

The episode also includes a deep dive into the Emmy ballot, with nomination voting going strong this week, and a look at the limited-series Emmy, which may come down to Netflix versus Netflix thanks to the strong presence of both Beef and Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.