October 25, 2019
'Tropic Thunder' Actor: I Was Cursed by God for Playing Gay!
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
An actor who played a gay character in the 2008 Ben Stiller-directed comedy "Tropic Thunder" says that God cursed him for that role, and also for a 2011 film, "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son," in which he dressed in woman's garb.
But now, says Brandon T. Jackson - who has also appeared in the 2017 comedy "Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town" and portrayed Barack Obama on the "Historical Roasts" television series - he has things squared away with the man upstairs, reports TMZ.
Jackson is now a Black Hebrew Israelite, and told TMZ that wearing a dress for "Big Mommas" was a violation of religious laws set out in the Torah, which consists of the first five books of the Old Testament (or, in some traditions, 24 books from the Old Testament, as well as rabbinical teachings.
As far as playing gay in a movie, Jackson said that he was "on thin ice with the father." Added Jackson: "If you don't follow all the commandments that the Torah says to do, you'll be cursed."
If Jackson was making a reference to the taboos laid out in the Book of Leviticus, which is used by the religious hard right to slam LGBTQs, he did so without referencing other taboos that the book specifies - including the wearing of blended fabrics, the serving of both meat and dairy in a single meal (cheeseburgers, for instance), and the eating of shellfish. The TMZ article contained no reference to the dietary or fashion choices on the part of the actor, in real life or in the film roles he undertakes.
Watch a clip of Jackson as the closeted actor Alpa Chino below:
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
