Podcast Summary: "Cosmosexuals: Screen Acting, Stardom, and Male Sex Appeal"
Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Dr. Mark Gallagher
Date: January 30, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode explores Dr. Mark Gallagher’s book, Cosmosexuals: Screen Acting, Stardom, and Male Sex Appeal (University of Texas Press, 2025). The conversation delves into the complex cultural, historical, and industrial factors shaping the international sex appeal of male film stars (“cosmosexuals”), tracing the phenomenon from early film history to the present era of streaming and globalized media. The discussion unpacks concepts like race, national origin, “spreadable stardom,” changing standards of sexiness, and the varied reception of male stars across different audiences.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introducing Dr. Mark Gallagher and the Book's Genesis

• Background: Gallagher reflects on his two decades in UK academia (University of Nottingham), his American background, and immersion in international contexts.
• Inspiration: His exposure to diverse notions of gender and masculinity inspired this research:

  "That international exposure to British people, European people, people from all over the world, and my students and colleagues really opened my eyes to a lot of different codes around gender and identity and the responses to popular culture and the breadth of popular culture..." [02:39]

• Research Focus: The book combines interests in film bodies, performances, production, globalization, and reception, arguing that sex appeal is contextually produced rather than intrinsic.
• Goal: Gallagher uses sex appeal and stardom as “ways to get at larger questions” around global film industries, creative practices, and internationalization.

Historical Roots of Cosmosexuality

• Early Constructions: The appeal of the male body in screen media predates film, tracing back to 19th-century photography, celebrity culture, and live performance (e.g., strongman Sandow).

  "By the time we get into the 20th century, we have the emergence of the film medium... By the early 1900s, you do get film stars." [09:52]

• Silent Cinema & International Appeal: Silent film enabled international stardom due to language neutrality; early examples include actors like Rudolph Valentino, Sasui Hayakawa, and Pola Negri.
• Sex Appeal & Gender: The book challenges the notion that “sexiness” was only ascribed to women—Valentino, for instance, was the first described as "sexy" in print.

  "The first reference to sexiness is in... a popular newspaper is in relation to a male film star, Rudolph Valentino..." [18:19]

• Nuances for Male Stars: Being named “sexy” could be ambiguous for male actors—sometimes positive, sometimes pejoratively signifying inauthenticity or effeminacy.

Contemporary Cosmosexuals: Case Studies

• Historical Cases:

  • Conrad Veidt (German actor): Career across Germany, US, and UK, known for his distinctive roles and anti-Nazi stance.
  • Omar Sharif (Egyptian actor): Star of Egyptian and international cinema, known for his on- and off-screen cosmopolitanism.
  • Alain Delon (French actor): Iconic for “transcendent, stern, silent, sexy masculinity,” popular even outside France.

• Modern Spread:
  Gallagher surveys living actors spanning:

  • Anglophone stars (Canada, UK, Australia)
  • Latino stars (North & South America)
  • East Asian talents (Hong Kong, Canada)
  • Nordic actors (Mads Mikkelsen from Denmark)
  • Black British/Afro-British actors (Idris Elba)

  The selection underscores the variability of how sex appeal is received and marketed internationally.

Concepts Defined: Cosmosexuality & Spreadable Stardom

• Cosmosexuality:

  • A portmanteau of “cosmopolitan” and “metrosexual.”
  • Defines stars whose sex appeal is ‘spreadable’—translatable across cultural and national lines:

    "... tries to make sense of different identities that can be received... as sexually appealing across multiple viewing contexts." [30:26]

  • Built on metrosexuality’s focus on male style, now amplified by global media.

• Spreadable Stardom:

  • Derived from Jenkins, Ford & Green’s "spreadable media"; denotes how certain stars’ images/appeal circulate worldwide.
  • Favors actors (often white, with versatile looks/accents) who can fit multiple market identities—yet certain barriers persist, especially for non-white actors.
  • Example: Ryan Gosling and Tom Hardy’s white “neutrality” contrasts with Idris Elba or Simu Liu, whose casting is often rigidly racialized.

Race, Nationality & Systemic Barriers

• Barriers to Spreadability:
  For many non-white actors, international success is constrained by stereotypes, accent issues, or typecasting.
  • Idris Elba: “There are very few if any race blind roles for his characters. Most of his roles pick up on his racial identity...” [41:25]
  • Simu Liu: Despite lead role in Shang-Chi, still faces assumptions/barriers tied to East Asian identity.
  • Mads Mikkelsen: Though white, his Danish accent 'others' him in the U.S., showing how language and nationality complicate appeal.
  • Accents, language mastery, and ability (or inability) to be “race blind” limit or enhance actors’ portability and reception abroad.

The Latino Cosmosexual: Fluid Identities in the U.S.

• Complex Demographics:
  The U.S.’s categories ("Latino," "Hispanic," "Chicano," etc.) are fluid and politically fraught.
• Pedro Pascal as Case Study:
  • The Chilean-U.S. actor’s career demonstrates fluidity—sometimes performing “Latino,” sometimes “white,” sometimes completely neutral (e.g., Mandalorian).

    “So a lot of different things going on in there, and a lot of it kind of shows some of the confusion around categories...” [53:36]

  • Hollywood and fantasy/sci-fi roles further obfuscate or recalibrate assumptions about identity and racialization.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sex Appeal’s Subjectivity:

  "Rather than just making it a work of opinion... a lot of it is in the eye of the beholder. I try to think about reception contexts, production contexts, and narrative contexts that shape these activities in different ways."
  – Dr. Mark Gallagher [08:24]

• On Spreadable Stardom’s Limits:

  "Spreadable stardom often favors white people. But Caucasians are not majority race in most of the world. So there are other figures who kind of escape from the bounds of their national cinemas as well, in some cases, if they're perceived as, what to say, either as exotic or as analogous to some existing understood type."
  – Dr. Mark Gallagher [34:44]

• On Pedro Pascal’s Identity-Fluid Roles:

  "He’s played roles as characters who are connotatively understood as white, Caucasian, non-Hispanic, non-Latino... Sometimes he’ll use a kind of Texan accent. Not so hard for him since he's partly raised in San Antonio..."
  – Dr. Mark Gallagher [54:32]

• On Sex Appeal Beyond the Female:

  "So I think it's pretty interesting and significant that, you know, we don't specifically associate this. It's not just a female phenomenon... the same kind of practices, the same kind of discourses are apparent for men as well, just with... different kinds of cultural baggage, different kinds of opportunities and limitations and also different, different stakes."
  – Dr. Mark Gallagher [16:42]

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [02:39] – Dr. Gallagher’s international inspiration and research trajectory
• [09:52] – Historical roots: early film and international sex appeal
• [19:58] – Case studies: Veidt, Sharif, Delon, and rationale for their selection
• [30:26] – Cosmosexuality and spreadable stardom explained
• [41:25] – Race, ethnicity, and limits of spreadability (Gosling, Elba, Liu, Mikkelsen, Maurer)
• [53:36] – U.S. Latino stardom, Pedro Pascal’s chameleonic presence
• [60:26] – Gallagher’s current/future research (white Anglophones in Hong Kong TV, 1930s B-movie he-man whiteness)

Current and Future Research

Gallagher mentions works-in-progress, including:

• Analysis of white Anglophones in American Hong Kong-set TV
• Historical look at 1930s B-movie stars and shifting models of white masculinity
• Interest in under-researched stars like Javier Bardem, Omar Sy, Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alexander Skarsgård, and Robert Pattinson

"I'm trying to think about different questions around globalization... I like to shake the tree of film and screen studies and see what falls out, what hasn't been studied so much that deserves attention." [61:58]

Conclusion

Gallagher’s Cosmosexuals is an expansive, nuanced study of how male sex appeal and stardom are constructed, mediated, and translated across global film and television industries. Through lively examples and sharp theoretical framing, the episode offers listeners new lenses for watching and thinking about contemporary and historical screen masculinity.

For More:
Cosmosexuals: Screen Acting, Stardom, and Male Sex Appeal
University of Texas Press, 2025.

Credits:
Interview by Dr. Miranda Melcher.
Guest: Dr. Mark Gallagher.
Podcast: New Books Network.