“Hung” actor Thomas Jane talks to The L.A. Times:
“Hey, you grow up as an artist in a big city, as James Dean said, you’re going to have one arm tied behind your back if you don’t accept people’s sexual flavors. You know, when I was a kid out here in L.A., I was homeless, I didn’t have any money and I was living in my car. I was 18. I wasn’t averse to going down to Santa Monica Boulevard and letting a guy buy me a sandwich. Know what I mean?”
Do you feel that experience had any cost or was it just doing what you had to do?
“You’re a lot more open to experimentation as a young man. And for me, being a young artist and broke in Los Angeles, I was exploring my sexual identity. And probably because of my middle-class, white blue-collar upbringing, I would have never had the opportunity to confront some of my own fears and prejudices had I not been hungry enough to be forced to challenge myself in that way.”
So then it was productive for you in terms of self-knowledge?
“Yeah, absolutely. It blew the doors off of my conventional upbringing and thinking and opened up possibilities for me that were akin to World War III. And then you actually have a choice, and I chose to be a heterosexual guy because that’s what my DNA dictates and my nurture dictates that I am.”
Then is that a choice?
“I don’t know. I think up to a point it’s a choice. But I’ll tell you what — it’s not a choice until you’re open enough to experience both male and female sexuality. Until you’ve tasted the food, you don’t know whether you’ll like it or not, as my mom always said.”
I dunno about that. I’ve never been tempted to order from the fish menu. Its never appealed to me. There was a point I thought I was straight or bi but I never acted on it. I think he was bi-curious. And might still have that as a part of him. I know plenty of men, no matter how hungry or desperate aren’t gunna engage in homosexual sex, period. My ex bff gave into my advances MANY times. Due to his Bible-thumper up bringing he felt he prayed away his feelings for what we did. And what we did would make Falcon & Treasure Island jealous and wanna take notes! That said, I don’t have personal experience experimenting but either you’re attracted to it or you’re not! I may be off base but from my perspective, it doesn’t jive.
Now if you substitute the word ‘suppress’ for ‘choice’, I might buy into the verbal garbage a little. My life and professional experiences have lead me to believe that we are born straight, gay, or bi. Our genes(DNA) dictate the color of our skin, hair, and eyes; the size of our hands, feet, and genitals. It also dictates our sexual leanings. We aare born with these features and patterns.
As far as our nurturing dictating our sexual mores, no matter how hard Mom and Dad work to expose us to ‘Male’ experiences/pathes and the local witchdoctor prays and beats the drum of hetrosexuality, it ‘ain’t’ gonna work. “I yam what I yam” – and so are you!
This so called ‘choice’ of sexuality that society and church has dreamed up is such a major cause of so many young men and women, tortured by the battle between what they are and what they ‘are supposed to be’ commiting suicide and in my opinion hiding in some substance – another form of suicide.
I agree with Coach, Sex is a good thing – if society does not fuck with it!
Mayo or mustard on your sandwich is a choice.
Being gay isn’t.
Just because Mr. Jane took stock of his youthful assets and screwed around with men when he was “experimentally” younger in order to feed and advance himself, doesn’t make him gay — then or now. That’s called survival.
What I find interesting is that he is now admitting to that gay experimentation because he thinks it’s FAVORABLE to his career. My, how times have changed.
I just wish I had been the one he was experimenting with
cool