Ricky Martin worries that being gay is stopping him from getting acting work
Martin received an Emmy nomination in 2018, but said he'd be "really sad" if being gay has led to a lack of roles since then
Ricky Martin has spoken out about the “disappointing” lack of acting roles available to him and whether being gay is having an impact on his career.
The Grammy-winning singer is also an Emmy-nominated actor, praised for his starring role in 2018’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace and with appearances on Glee, General Hospital, and Broadway’s Les Misérables and Evita.
But in an interview with People, Martin, 49, said he would be “really sad” if his sexuality had led to a relative drought in acting roles in recent years.
“I love acting. I’m waiting for those scripts, for those great scripts,” he said. “I can play gay, I can play straight, I can play a serial killer. I can play Latin, but I can also play European. I am ready. Just give it to me, man. Give it to me.”
Martin said he wants to “tell a story” and “change the way people see life in general towards some more optimistic way.”
However, he recalled a conversation with a music executive a few years ago, who told Martin that he would have sold more records if he hadn’t come out as gay in 2010.
The Puerto Rican native is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time, with more than 70 million records sold.
However, while Martin said the executive was later fired, the comment “really affected me…. It hit me hard.”
He then questioned if that same attitude was preventing him from being considered for acting roles.
“I don’t know if I’m not getting parts because I’m gay,” he said. “But if that’s the case, it’s really sad. I’m going to keep working until life is different.”
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