Actor Terrence Howard claimed that he declined to portray legendary Motown singer Marvin Gaye in a biopic because he was never going to put himself in a situation where he would have to kiss a man.
It had long been rumored that Gaye, also fondly known as the “Prince of Motown” and “Prince of Soul,” was gay. The Sexual Healing singer was gunned down by his father during a physical altercation on April 1, 1984.
Howard, 56, touched on the said biopic about Gaye during an appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast. The Hustle & Flow star claimed that he initially received two biopic offers to portray Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, per The Hollywood Reporter.
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He then went ahead to say that his “biggest” career mistake was turning down the Robinson offer. He explained that was because he was already in discussions with Lee Daniels about taking up the Gaye biopic project.
Maher said that was the correct decision as Gaye’s life was “much more interesting” and Howard “would’ve been perfect as Marvin Gaye, and that is a story that needs to be told.”
Howard, however, said he had second thoughts about the project after he asked Quincy Jones a question about Gaye’s sexuality.
“I was over at Quincy Jones’ house and I’m asking Quincy, ‘I’m hearing rumors that Marvin was gay’ and I’m like, ‘Was he gay?’” Howard recalled. “And Quincy’s like, ‘Yes.’”
The former Empire star added: “They would’ve wanted to do that [portray a gay person], and I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
“You mean you couldn’t kiss a guy on screen in a movie?” Maher asked, to which Howard replied, “No. Because I don’t fake it.” “That would f*ck me,” Howard continued. “I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off.”
Howard also emphasized that his decision “to not want to kiss a man” does “not make me homophobic.” He said it had to with being in full synch for the role.
“I can’t play that character 100 percent,” Howard explained. “I can’t surrender myself to a place that I don’t understand.”
Gaye, who was a two-time divorcee, never publicly revealed whether he was gay or not. But rumors about his sexuality remained, and it was even reported that he added “e” as the final letter of his last name to put those speculations to bed, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In the Divided Soul biography, a quote from Gaye also read, “Sexually, men don’t interest me.” But in 2018, Quincy Jones in an interview claimed that Marlon Brando had sex with Gaye and Richard Pryor.
