Benedict Cumberbatch opens up about playg a gay character 'The Power of the Dog' | Hollywood News

Contents:

• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH WEIGHS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS GAY ROL AHEAD OF ‘POWER OF THE DOG’ RELEASE
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH IS GAY?
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH DEFENDS DECISN TO PLAY GAY CHARACTER: 'I FEEL SENSIVE' ABOUT 'DIVERSY'
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH REFLECTS ON PLAYG A REPRSED GAY CHARACTER 'THE POWER OF THE DOG'
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH PRAISED BY GAY RIGHTS GROUP FOR DISCSG SEXUAL EXPERIMENTATN
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY ‘POWER OF THE DOG’: ‘IT WASN’T DONE WHOUT THOUGHT’
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ON STRAIGHT ACTORS GAY ROL: ‘DO WE HAVE TO EXPLA ALL OUR PRIVATE MOMENTS OUR SEXUAL HISTORY?’
• IS PHIL GAY THE POWER OF THE DOG?
• 11 TIM BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH STOOD UP FOR GAY RIGHTS
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER IN 'THE POWER OF THE DOG'
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ADDRS SAM ELLTT'S 'ODD' RANT ABOUT POWER OF THE DOG'S GAY THEM
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ON PLAYG GAY CHARACTER NEW FILM: “IT WASN’T DONE WHOUT THOUGHT”

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH WEIGHS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS GAY ROL AHEAD OF ‘POWER OF THE DOG’ RELEASE

Benedict Cumberbatch plays a sexually reprsed wboy the 1920s – when homosexualy was wily stigmatized and many plac, crimalized – the upg Netflix film “The Power of the Dog.

Hollywood has for s st actors heterosexual relatnships gay rol. Some of the creators volved those films, like director Todd Hayn of “Carol” and Lu Guadagno, who directed “Call Me By Your Name, ” which also starred straight actors, are gay themselv. The film “Moonlight, ” which followed a gay Black man three stag of his life, was celebrated for sisteppg queer stereotyp, though starred some straight actors.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH IS GAY?

Whereas stg cisgenr actors transgenr rol has recently fallen out of popular practice – LGBTQ media advocy anizatn GLAAD says stg this way “perpetuat this belief that trans people aren’t real” – there is not a siar nsens when to actors playg gay characters. (The anizatn didn’t immediately rpond to CNN’s requt for ment regardg straight actors portrayg gay characters.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH DEFENDS DECISN TO PLAY GAY CHARACTER: 'I FEEL SENSIVE' ABOUT 'DIVERSY'

Vany Fair cric Richard Lawson wrote a review of the 2020 film “The Prom” that there’s no “hard and fast le about who should play gay men on screen.

” Nuance, though, is necsary for any actor playg a gay character, he said.

That’s part of why Jam Corn’s stg “The Prom” as a flamboyant fad Broadway star was wily cricized: Corn, who is married to a woman, played to stereotyp of gay men, acrdg to many crics, who said his performance was “sultg” and lled him “offensively misst.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

“In general, y, I wish more gay actors got the chance to tell our stori, embody our people, rather than straight men gettg aclas for beg brave – or cheers for beg sassy, ” Lawson wrote his review of the film.

But the ia that playg a gay role is a “brave” cisn for a straight actor is beg ls domant, cric Guy Lodge said an terview wh the Guardian, evinced by the lack of buzz for films such as “Ammone” and “Supernova, ” which both foced on queer love stori portrayed by straight actors.

“I thk the ia of beg ‘brave’ for playg gay is gog away, ” Lodge said. ”Sexualy is at the foreont of Cumberbatch’s hotly anticipated film, The Imatn Game, which he plays Alan Turg, a gay man who was wily creded wh crackg the Enigma durg World War II.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH REFLECTS ON PLAYG A REPRSED GAY CHARACTER 'THE POWER OF THE DOG'

Tragilly, Turg mted suici after the war when he was nvicted of “engagg homosexual relatns”.

”Cumberbatch, who officiated his iends’ Seth Cummgs and Rob Rr’s civil ceremony Ibiza last year, also spoke about how difficult is for gay actors Hollywood.

“I thk if you’re gog to sell yourself as a leadg man Hollywood to say ‘I’m gay’, sadly, is still a huge obstacle, ” he said. “We all know actors who are [gay] who don’t want to talk about or brg up, or who ny . Human rights movements and sexual and gay rights movements have ma huge social progrs the last 40 years, whout a doubt, but there’s a lot more work to be done.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH PRAISED BY GAY RIGHTS GROUP FOR DISCSG SEXUAL EXPERIMENTATN

At one time mors were very actively spread that actor Benedikt Cumberbatch was gay. To some extent, the gossip is also related to the fact that the actor played the part of Alan Turg the movie "The Game of Imatn", which cracked the of the German Enigma encryptn mache durg the Send World War, and was later prosecuted for his homosexualy. Benedict Cumberbatch is fendg his role as a gay man his latt movie.

Cumberbatch, who is straight and has prevly played a gay character, spoke about his latt turn the upg The Power of the Dog. Still, Cumberbatch knows the nversatn that along wh a straight actor takg on a gay character. The actor prevly played mathematician Alan Turg, a gay man, 2014's The Imatn Game.

The nversatn surroundg whether heterosexual actors should play gay characters has been buildg recent years. In December 2018, Glee star Darren Criss said he would no longer play gay characters after his breakout role as Blae Anrson Ryan Murphy's h show.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY ‘POWER OF THE DOG’: ‘IT WASN’T DONE WHOUT THOUGHT’

"But I want to make sure I won't be another straight boy takg a gay man's role. Cumberbatch is already gettg Osr buzz for his role the upg wtern as a gay Montana ttle rancher the 1920s.

But not everyone is keen on straight actors playg gay rol, and this is somethg Cumberbatch was aware of when he took the role, and he talked to IndieWire about why he ultimately cid the role was for him.

While is important to provi real-life queer people wh jobs the dtry and nothg go as far as thenticy, there shouldn't be a mand for actors to publicly state their sexualy before they accept actg bate over whether straight actors should play gay has been ragg pecially hard over the last year or so. "I'm not beg woke about this, but I feel strongly that if I st someone a story, I am stg them to act as a lover, or an emy, or someone on dgs or a crimal or a sat, " he told the Rad Tim, "They are not there to 'act gay' bee 'actg gay' is a bunch of s o a performance. "Everyone om Neil Patrick Harris, to Jim Parsons, to Ben Platt has weighed on the issue, wh some sayg they're favor of straight actors playg gay, but many sayg they'd like to see that trend e to an isn't Cumberbatch's first time playg gay a big movie.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ON STRAIGHT ACTORS GAY ROL: ‘DO WE HAVE TO EXPLA ALL OUR PRIVATE MOMENTS OUR SEXUAL HISTORY?’

In 2014, he played gay puter geni Alan Turg The Imatn Game, and was nomated for an Amy Award, a BAFTA, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Goln Globe for the role. Benedict CumberbatchBenedict Cumberbatch has spoken out on his new role Jane Campn’s The Power of the Dog.Cumberbatch is already gettg Osr buzz for his role the upg wtern as a gay Montana ttle rancher the 1920s.

But not everyone is keen on straight actors playg gay rol, and this is somethg Cumberbatch was aware of when he took the role, and he talked to IndieWire about why he ultimately cid the role was for him.Cumberbatch said he was drawn to this specific role bee the character isn’t black or whe about his sexualy, and stead keeps his private life and public life separate.“I feel very sensive about reprentatn, diversy, and cln,” Cumberbatch told IndieWire. While is important to provi real-life queer people wh jobs the dtry and nothg go as far as thenticy, there shouldn’t be a mand for actors to publicly state their sexualy before they accept actg rol.The bate over whether straight actors should play gay has been ragg pecially hard over the last year or so.

Davi spoke about why he st queer actors all his queer rol for his latt show It’s a S.“I’m not beg woke about this, but I feel strongly that if I st someone a story, I am stg them to act as a lover, or an emy, or someone on dgs or a crimal or a sat,” he told the Rad Tim, “They are not there to ‘act gay’ bee ‘actg gay’ is a bunch of s o a performance. It’s about thenticy, the taste of 2020 (and 2021).”Everyone om Neil Patrick Harris, to Jim Parsons, to Ben Platt has weighed on the issue, wh some sayg they’re favor of straight actors playg gay, but many sayg they’d like to see that trend e to an end.This isn’t Cumberbatch’s first time playg gay a big movie.

IS PHIL GAY THE POWER OF THE DOG?

In 2014, he played gay puter geni Alan Turg The Imatn Game, and was nomated for an Amy Award, a BAFTA, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Goln Globe for the role.RELATED | 13 Same-Sex Marvel Movie Ships the Stans Go Crazy For.

”Benedict Cumberbatch opens up about straight actors playg gay characters followg the but of his new film, “The Power of The Dog, ” at the Telluri Film Ftival.

11 TIM BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH STOOD UP FOR GAY RIGHTS

6, 2021, 9:15 PM UTC / Source: TODAYIt’s a topic on which Hollywood has yet to reach a nsens: whether or not ’s appropriate for straight actors to portray gay characters film and ’s also a topic that Benedict Cumberbatch is faiar wh, havg been nomated for an Amy Award for his performance as mathematician Alan Turg, a man both prosecuted and persecuted for his sexual orientatn, 2014’s “The Imatn Game. In early December, Netflix's "The Prom" was lambasted for stg Jam Corn, who is straight, as what crics lled an “aggrsively flamboyant” riture of a gay his 2016 Emmy acceptance speech for his portrayal of a transgenr woman Amazon seri “Transparent, " actor Jefey Tambor said he "would not be unhappy were I the last cisgenr male to play a transgenr character on televisn.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT PLAYG A GAY CHARACTER IN 'THE POWER OF THE DOG'

"In 2018, "Glee" alum Darren Criss told Btle he would no longer take rol portrayg LGBTQ+ characters to make sure he's not "another straight boy takg a gay man’s role.

"Neil Patrick Harris, who is gay, said earlier this year that if were up to him, he "would fely want to hire the bt actor.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ADDRS SAM ELLTT'S 'ODD' RANT ABOUT POWER OF THE DOG'S GAY THEM

”“In our world that we live you n’t really as a director mand that (an actor be gay or straight), " he told The Tim.

"Who’s to terme how gay someone is? Turg, who was openly gay at a time when homosexualy was a crime Bra, talked his way to a job helpg the Brish crack the German lled Enigma. On the way the state punished Turg for beg gay It's disgtg to thk that wh ls than 100 years [that] this was gog on hundreds — thoands fact — of men were prosecuted and given the chance to choose simply between two years' imprisonment or two years' state-sanctned chemil stratn through weekly trogen jectns.

But the man was a marathon nner as well as a sexually active homosexual man, and not only did the dg ravage his body and affect his physily but also started slowly to impge on his faculty, on his md, on his abily to do that work. Cumberbatch, who is straight and has prevly played a gay character, has faced creased scty this role.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH ON PLAYG GAY CHARACTER NEW FILM: “IT WASN’T DONE WHOUT THOUGHT”

| Cred: Netflix Early reactns to the film clud discsn on the character's sexualy, as the book the film is based on — Thomas Savage's 1967 novel of the same name — impli that he's gay, though never explicly nfirms . Last week at The Power of the Dog's Telluri Film Ftival premiere, Cumberbatch (who's married to a woman, stage director Sophie Hunter) spoke about his cisn to play a queer character seven years after he received his first Amy Award nomatn for playg gay mathematician Alan Turg the 2014 film The Imatn Game. ”His admissn has nsequently been praised by gay rights group Stonewall for the impact will have on young men and women stgglg to e to terms wh their sexualy.

“It don’t take a tective to work out that seeg someone the public eye – pecially somebody as fluential as Benedict – talkg posively around gay issu, is powerful for young lbian, gay and bisexual people, ” said Stonewall Head of Policy Jam Taylor.