Ewan McGregor Stars As Iconic Gay Fashion Designer, Halston, In New Ryan Murphy Series
Ryan Murphy’s latest series, Halston, follows the life of legendary fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick as he creates a worldwide fashion empire in the ’70s and ’80s, reports Out.
Halston, played by Ewan McGregor, rose to fame designing the famous pillbox hat worn by Jackie Kennedy to John F Kennedy’s presidential inauguration in 1961. As his popularity grew, Halston began to design era-defining women’s garments, signing a number of multi-million dollar licensing deals with large department stores and brands, and becoming the go-to designer for celebrities.
Later in his career, the Halston brand name began to fail causing a number of deals to be discontinued, Halston being fired from his own company, and later dying of AIDS related complications in 1990.
McGregor initially received backlash for being cast as a gay man, despite not being gay himself. He said it was something he “did think about a lot” before taking on the role, but felt as though Halston’s sexuality was only a small part of his story. McGregor’s comments were backed by Murphy who said McGregor was the “perfect person cast for the role”.
McGregor has played gay numerous times on film including in The Pillow Book, The Velvet Goldmine, Scenes Of A Sexual Nature and I Love You Phillip Morris. You once told Out magazine, “I like kissing boys onscreen.”
The Halston series will air on Netflix on May 14.
