31 Actresses That Went Gay For Pay

These (supposedly) straight actresses have switched teams for television and movie roles, sometimes more than once.

1. Rashida Jones, “Our Idiot Brother”

Jones, alongside Zooey Deschanel, had only a small role in this Sundance flick, but it was oozing with dorky adorableness.

Source: The Weinstein Company and Walkmark Films  /  via: queeriesmag.com

2. Glenn Close, “Serving in Silence”

Glenn Close won an Emmy for her starring role in this 1995 film. In the biopic, she plays the decorated Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer, who fights her dismissal from the Army when she comes out as a lesbian.

Source: NBC  /  via: epixhd.com

3. Cher, “Silkwood”

Cher plays Dolly Pelliker, the lesbian roommate of Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep).

Source: 20th Century Fox  /  via: filmreference.com

4. Heather Graham, “Gray Matters”

Graham portrays a woman who discovers she is gay after falling in love with her brother’s girlfriend (Bridget Moynahan).

Source: Yari Film Group  /  via: film.thedigitalfix.com

5. Lena Headey, “Imagine Me & You”

Piper Parebo plays Rachel, a newlywed who falls for the florist, played by Headey, at her own wedding.

Source: foxsearchlight.com  /  via: laceysfilms.wordpress.com

Lena once more in “Mrs.Dalloway”

Portrays Sally Seton from Virgina Woolf’s original novel.

Source: afterellen.com

and Lena again in the tv series “Band Of Gold”

Lena portrayed a lesbian prostitue specializing in S&M.

Source: lena-h-lover.tumblr.com

6. Julianne Moore, “The Hours”

Moore stars as a confused, sexually repressed housewife who has feelings for her female neighbor.

Source: paramount.com  /  via: nearlyvintage.tumblr.com

7. Meryl Streep, “The Hours”

Streep and Allison Janney play longtime lesbian lovers in the 2002 drama.

Source: paramount.com  /  via: dzbawards.com

8. Selma Blair, “Feast Of Love”

Plays the part of a woman in a strained marriage. She begins a relationship with a woman she meets playing softball.

Source: MGM.com  /  via: imdb.com

9. Piper Perabo in “Lost and Delirious”

A troubled girl at boarding school deals with the end of a relationship.

Source: lionsgate.com  /  via: tokyowrestling.com

10. Emily Deschanel, “The Perfect Family”

Deschanel plays a young lesbian with an extremely overbearing and religious mother.

Source: theperfectfamilymovie.com

11. Lisa Ray and Sheetal Seth, “The World Unseen”

The movie follows two Indian South African women who fall in love in a homophobic environment.

Source: regentreleasing.com  /  via: afterellen.com

12. And again in “I Can’t Think Straight”

Ray portrays a woman of Palestinian descent, Tala, who is preparing for an elaborate wedding. A turn of events causes her to fall in love with another woman, Leyla, a British Indian portrayed by Seth.

Source: regentreleasing.com  /  via: sheetalsheth-fansite.blogspot.com

13. Whoopi Goldberg, “Boys On The Side”

Whoopi Goldberg portrays a lesbian nightclub singer Jane Deluca this 1995 female road-trip movie.

Source: warnerbros.com  /  via: thefancarpet.com

14. Naomi Watts, “Mulholland Drive”

Watts portrays Betty Elms, newly arrived in Los Angeles, California, who meets and befriends an amnesiac hiding in an apartment

Source: universalstudios.com  /  via: tokyowrestling.com

15. Gina Gershon, “Bound”

GIna portrays a tough female ex-con with Jennifer Tilly playing her lover, Violet. They concoct a scheme to steal millions and pin the blame on Violet’s crooked boyfriend.

Source: Gramercy Pictures  /  via: unbearablevision.tumblr.com

16. Elizabeth Mitchell, “Gia”

Portrays a make-up artist who becomes entangled in a relationship with one of her clients, a supermodel (Angelina Jolie).

Source: HBO.com  /  via: hotflick.net

17. Jennifer Beals and Laurel Holloman, “The L Word”

Beals and Holloman portray a power couple living in Los Angeles, California attempting to raise a family in this popular Showtime series.

Source: showtime.com  /  via: tinabetteangie.tumblr.com

18. Felicia Day in “Supernatural”

Day had several guest appearances on the show as a geeky, girl-crazed computer hacker.

Source: cwtv.com  /  via: afterellen.com

19. Jada Pinkett Smith, “The Women”

Jada portrays the sole lesbian character, Alex, in this female centered film.

Source: picturehouse.com  /  via: afterellen.com

20. Shay Mitchell, “Pretty Little Liars”

Mitchell portrays a closeted lesbian, Emily, who was later outed by “A”. She falls in love with and dates (for a time) Maya St. Germain portrayed by Bianca Lawson.

Source: beta.abcfamily.go.com  /  via: prettylittleliarsabc.tumblr.com

21. Idina Menzel, “Rent”

Idina portrayed a lesbian performance artist and co-starred in the film with her husband Taye Diggs.

Source: sonypictures.com  /  via: imdb.com

22. Alyson Hannigan, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

In the TV series her character Willow finds true love at college with a fellow female coed.

Source: fox.com  /  via: autostraddle.com

23. Sarah Shahi, “The L Word”

The talented Shahi portrays a sassy club DJ who becomes involved with Shane.

Source: Showtime.com  /  via: fanpop.com

24. Anna Silk, “Lost Girl”

Anna plays a mysterious character named Bo, a supernatural seductress who is succubus raised by humans. Bo also develops romantic relationships with both Dyson, a wolf shifter police detective; and Lauren, a human doctor.

Source: shawmedia.ca  /  via: scifipulse.net

25. Ally Sheedy, “High Art”

You may recognize her from The Breakfast Club but in this film she plays a renowned photographer who becomes involved with her downstairs neighbor, portrayed by Rhada Mitchell.

Source: octoberfilms.co.uk  /  via: blog.ricecracker.net

26. Rooney Mara, “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”

Mara stars as a bixsexual, gothic freelance surveillance agent and researcher, who was previously played by Noomi Rapace.

Source: sonypictures.com  /  via: fandor.com

27. Sara Ramirez, “Grey’s Anatomy”

Plays the wife of a pediatric surgeon, portrayed by Jessica Capshaw, on this ABC series.

Source: ABC.com  /  via: calzonaquotes.tumblr.com

28. Jessica Capshaw, “The L Word”

Capshaw made several guest appearances as a teaching assistant who attempts to seduce her superior (Jennifer Beals).

Source: Showtime.com  /  via: discussion.l-word.com

29. Sharon Stone, “If These Walls Could Talk”

In the 2000 anthology TV movie Sharon Stone played opposite Ellen Degeneres as a couple attempting to become pregnant.

Source: hbo.com  /  via: hotflick.net

30. Natasha Lyonne, “But I’m a Cheerleader”

Lyonne plays lesbian teen Megan Bloomfield, whose parents ship her off to camp to cure her of her homosexual tendencies. While at the camp, Megan finds true love with another girl.

Source: lionsgate.com  /  via: salon.com

31. Naya Rivera, “Glee”

“Brittana” took the world by storm as Rivera played the role of a highschool girl coping with falling for her best friend, and coming out of the closet.

Source: fox.com  /  via: feministbloggen.blogspot.com

See more actors and actresses who have taken on gay roles here.