Terrence Howard has revealed that he once turned down the chance to play Marvin Gaye in a biopic.
Speaking in a new interview with Bill Maher, the Iron Man star was asked what the “biggest mistake” he ever made in his career was.
Howard went on to say to his biggest regret was turning down the chance to play Smokey Robinson after the musician asked the actor to portray him in a movie.
This was due to the fact that he was already in “conversation with Lee Daniels about playing Marvin Gaye” in a separate project.
He went on to say that he turned down the role of Gaye because he was uncomfortable with how the singer’s sexuality would be explored.
“I was over at Quincy Jones‘ house and I’m asking Quincy, ‘I’m hearing rumours that Marvin was gay’ and I’m like, ‘Was he gay?,’ and Quincy’s like, ‘Yes,’” Howard recalled. On the prospect of exploring Gaye’s sexuality, he added: “They would’ve wanted to do that, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
When asked if he couldn’t kiss a man on screen, Howard said: “No. Because I don’t fake it,” before adding: “That would fuck me. I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off.”
He continued: “I can’t play that character 100 per cent. I can’t surrender myself to a place that I don’t understand.”
Gaye did not publicly explicitly state his sexuality but was married twice in his life, to Anna Gordy and Janis Hunter.
But Jones once alleged in an interview with Vulture, that the late singer had an intimate relationship with late actor Marlon Brando, although it has never been confirmed.
“Brando used to go cha-cha dancing with us. He could dance his ass off. He was the most charming motherfucker you ever me,” said at the time. “He’d fuck anything. Anything! He’d fuck a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye… He did not give a fuck!”
