Acting Class Aiding Gay Actors Become “More Honest,” Shirtless Matthew Mitcham And His Best Dog Ever, Fine Chris Pine Arrives At LAX

The New York Times on an acting class taught by Brad Calcaterra, the weekly class called Act Out, which began in Wednesday, concentrating solely on sexual identity. Calcaterra says that the recent rash of suicides by motivated his desire to help students be comfortable in their own sexual skins, making them “more honest” actors, underlining that the class is not a course on “how to act gay” or conversely, how gay actors can act straight, suppressing certain body language or speech patterns. He says that he started Act Out because he was weary of seeing so many of his gay students undergo a “contraction, not an expansion” of their talents as they deal with years of guilt, shame, and other by-products of living life as sexual minority. “It’s almost as if the gay actor has a proving ground,” said Mr. Calcaterra, who is gay. “Once you get across that hurdle of that held energy or secrecy, there’s that piece where you’re recognizable as a talent,” adding that he was also discouraged that straight actor would walk into auditions confident in their ability to play gay, especially the more camp roles, without any internal perceived flaws. “Why does Bob over here with three kids do the most over-the-top, flamboyant gay character?” he said. “Because most gay men will spend their whole lives not trying to be the sissy, the pansy, the queer. You spend a whole lifetime trying to not be that, and then you find out that with that you lose a lot of yourself, including talent.”

Matthew Mitcham posted a photograph of himself and his adorable dog, although who is cuter is open to debate.

The so very fine Chris Pine, head up, then down, lands in Los Angeles Sunday via Vancouver, where he continues work on This Means War.