Terrence Howard didn't play Marvin Gaye because he couldn't kiss a man: 'I don't fake it'

“Do what you love, but don’t bash it astatine me, don’t purpose it astatine me.”

That’s Terrence Howard talking astir cheery men portion explaining wherefore helium ne'er portrayed vocalist Marvin Gaye onscreen.

He planned astatine 1 constituent to represent Gaye successful a movie helmed by “Empire” enforcement shaper Lee Daniels, Howard told Bill Maher connected the “Club Random” podcast released Sunday.

Then helium was taken retired to meal and asked to prima successful a movie astir the beingness of Smokey Robinson — by Smokey Robinson himself. Howard had to crook the “Cruisin’” vocalist down due to the fact that helium was “being faithful” to Daniels. “I had fixed my connection arsenic a man, I’m gonna bash this with you.”

“The biggest mistake I made successful my career,” Howard told Maher arsenic the 2 were getting precocious together. The histrion didn’t accidental precisely erstwhile this went down, but added, “He wanted maine to play his beingness ... I had to archer them [no] astatine the array and it broke his heart.”

But playing Gaye wasn’t to beryllium either. Maher called it “a shame” due to the fact that helium said Gaye’s beingness communicative was overmuch much dramatic.

“I’m sorry, drama’s drama, and there’s a batch much play successful getting killed by your dad,” the “Real Time” big said. “That’s a communicative ... that’s overmuch much absorbing and Marvin Gaye, like, you would person been cleanable arsenic Marvin Gaye. And that is simply a communicative that needs to beryllium told.”

Then Howard, who has been married 4 times, to 3 antithetic women, decided to explicate wherefore helium besides didn’t play the twice-married “Sexual Healing” singer.

“I was implicit astatine Quincy Jones’ location — and I’m not dropping names, I’m conscionable giving credibility astir what I’m saying — I’m asking Quincy, I’m proceeding rumors that Marvin was cheery ... and I’m like, ‘Was helium gay?’ and Quincy is like, ‘Yes.’”

Insert mic driblet here. Gaye told a biographer successful 1982 that helium wasn’t funny successful men and the singer’s younger sister Zeola Gaye was not astatine each pleased erstwhile Jones alluded to her brother’s sexuality successful a 2018 interview.

“They would person wanted to bash that and I wouldn’t person been capable to bash that,” Howard said.

“You mean, you couldn’t buss a feline connected surface successful a movie?” Maher asked.

“No, ‘cause I don’t fake it,” the Oscar-nominated “Hustle & Flow” histrion replied. “That would f— me. I would chopped my lips off. If I did that I would chopped my lips off.”

After the big admitted that, well, helium couldn’t buss a antheral either — “It does not marque maine homophobic to not privation to buss a man,” Maher said, “just similar tons of cheery men are like, ‘p—, yuck.’” Howard expanded connected his reasoning.

“Do what you love, but don’t bash it astatine me, don’t purpose it astatine me,” the histrion said. “And I can’t play that quality 100%. I can’t surrender myself to a spot that I don’t understand.”

The actor, who played patriarch Lucious Lyon for six seasons connected “Empire,” declared successful 2019 that helium was done with acting, “done pretending.” Since then, he’s done 8 movies and 2 miniseries.