Invited this Saturday on the set of “Quelle Epoque!” on France 2, Muriel Robin, an actress who publicly declared herself a lesbian, spoke of the difficulties she encountered due to her homosexuality in her cinema.
Ultra-popular, the actress and comedian put her foot down on the set of “Quelle Epoque!” on France 2 this weekend, claiming that she was “the only actress in the world to say she is homosexual”. Muriel Robin, 68, says her sexual orientation has prevented her from being offered roles in comedies for decades, even though she fills theaters with her shows.
“I know French homosexual actors, they keep quiet”as there are no gay or lesbian performers shown “who have a great career”she continued, going so far as to say to young people: “We have to tell them that there’s no point in them doing this job. They won’t work.”
In question, according to her, the “desire” which must be projected onto the stars of the big screen: “if you are homosexual, you are not desirable, you are not penetrable. And when you are not penetrable ( …) we are worthless”, summarized Muriel Robin.
A lack of visibility
This discrimination is impossible to quantify: there is no data on the sexual orientation of actors and actresses. Few well-known French actors or actresses have publicly spoken about their homosexuality, like Nicolas Maury or Adèle Haenel, who said goodbye with a bang to the cinema last May. Abroad, Briton Rupert Everett has already spoken about the difficulties of being a gay actor, when Muriel Robin cited the example of Jodie Foster, who kept silent for a long time.
On the other hand, the 50/50 collective, which studies questions of discrimination in the cinema industry, published last year a barometer making it possible to measure in particular the proportion of LGBT+ characters in French films.
The conclusion ? They are rare: out of the hundred films studied, the sexual orientation is known for 82% of the main characters, and only 5% of them are homosexual or bisexual, and they are “strongly stereotyped”notes the study.
“A huge risk taken”
Very often, these roles are played by actors who do not identify as homosexuals, emphasizes to AFP Stéphane Gaillard, a casting director involved in the subject. And the rare lesbian actresses or gay actors shown are no longer offered roles as heterosexual characters, seeing their identity “vampirized”he continues.
“It’s not a conspiracy, it’s something very anchored and not thought through”, even among queer directors, he analyzes. Result, “Even today, actors have great difficulty saying who they are. It’s a huge risk.”
“For a straight person, playing a gay role brings added value, it’s a springboard, whereas for a gay person, it’s the risk of only being offered one type of role,” he adds.
Culture of virility
The mechanism described by Muriel Robin “plays especially for the best-known stars, who must remain objects of desire”complements another casting director and manager at the 50/50 collective, Sophie Lainé Diodovic.
Beyond supposed sexual orientation, this professional calls for ” a cultural deconstruction of virility” dominant, to better reflect the diversity of public desires. When preparing certain films, “I already heard myself answer: this one is too gay”she says about an actor who does not meet the classic criteria of virility “a la Belmondo or Depardieu”. Things are already moving, “with Edouard Baer, Timothée Chalamet”, much less physically virile.
To continue changing this “collective unconscious”, Sophie Lainé Diodovic calls for work from the entire community. Former agent Dominique Besnehard ( Ten percent) hopes that Muriel Robin’s position can help young performers: “what she is doing here is good (…) she will move things forward”he said in the online show BuzzTV.