Terrence Howard turned down playing Marvin Gaye in a biopic as he says he didn’t want to “kiss a man.”
In a recent appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, Howard reflected on what he considers the biggest mistake of his career. He revealed that turning down the lead role in a Smokey Robinson biopic—personally offered to him by the music legend himself—was a decision he deeply regrets.
“He wanted me to play his life, and I just had conversations with Lee Daniels about playing Marvin Gaye,” he shared. “I was being faithful to Lee Daniels because I had given my word… So when Smokey, I had to tell them at the table, and it broke his heart. And Billy Dee would have been one of the other people [involved].”
Maher says Marvin Gaye’s life was “much more interesting” than Smokey Robinson’s.
Howard recalls, “I was over at Quincy Jones’ house, and I’m not dropping names, I’m just giving credibility to what I’m about to say… I’m asking Quincy, ‘I’m hearing rumors that Marvin was gay,’” he said. “They would’ve wanted to do that, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that,” he said of portraying a gay man in a movie.
Maher then asks, “You mean you couldn’t kiss a guy on screen in a movie?” Howard responded, “No. Because I don’t fake it.”
He continued, “That would f*ck me, I would cut my lips off. … If I kiss some man, I would cut my lips off,” Howard expressed. Although he’s “fine” with homosexuality, he will not play any gay characters.
“I can’t play that character 100 percent,” he said. “I can’t surrender myself to a place that I don’t understand.”