Should straight actors still play gay characters? 'It's plited'

Contents:

• STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS
• SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS STILL PLAY GAY CHARACTERS? 'IT'S PLITED'
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• STANLEY TUCCI DEFENDS STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS: “YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY DIFFERENT PEOPLE”
• STANLEY TUCCI SAYS HE THKS STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY GAY CHARACTERS
• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH DEFENDS DECISN TO PLAY GAY CHARACTER: 'I FEEL SENSIVE' ABOUT 'DIVERSY'
• STANLEY TUCCI IS PRETTY FE WH STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS

"Clive is a gay man who tri to supprs his homosexualy Edwardian-era England. "Roger Ebert wrote: "He plays the role not as a man pretendg to be a woman, and not as a woman trapped a man's body, and not as a parody of a woman, and not as a gay man, but as a drag queen, perd: Lola, a tall, athletic performer thigh-high red boots who l the stage of a drag club as if she were born there, and is a pretty good sger, too.

SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS STILL PLAY GAY CHARACTERS? 'IT'S PLITED'

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, both straight, were both Osr-nomated for their performanc (Ledger lead, Gyllenhaal supportg) this film about two men fallg love and ntug their affair for film sred 87% on Rotten Tomato, wh the se's cril nsens readg: "A betifully epic Wtern, 'Brokeback Mounta''s gay love story is imbued wh heartbreakg universaly, helped by the movg performanc of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Sean Penn played gay activist Harvey Milk 2008's 'Milk.

Harvey Milk is one of the most important gay activists history, and straight actor Sean Penn won an Osr for playg him. Col Firth played a gay profsor 'A Sgle Man' 2009.

In ‘Philalphia, ’ one of the first mastream Hollywood films to acknowledge issu like HIV/AIDS, homosexualy, and homophobia, Hanks played the role of Andrew Beckett, a gay lawyer. In early December, Netflix dropped s highly anticipated mil edy “The Prom, ” starrg Meryl Streep, Nile Kidman, Andrew Rannells and Jam Corn as fadg Broadway stars who set out to help a lbian teen take her girliend to the film, helmed by out director Ryan Murphy, got mixed reviews, but some lambasted as “homophobic” and “offensive” bee of the stg of Corn, a straight actor, what they saw as an “aggrsively flamboyant” riture of a gay character, Barry Glickman, is a narcissistic theater actor who dons sparklg tuxedo jackets, talks wh a stereotypil gay lisp while flailg his hands around and scrib himself as “gay as a bucket of wigs. "Melda Sue Gordon / NetflixErik Anrson, who ns the film se Awards Watch, lled “The Prom” a “geo and vibrant productn” but tweeted that Corn’s “performance is gross and offensive, the worst gayface a long, long time.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

”The ntroversy threw fuel on an already simmerg bate: Should non-LGBTQ actors still be st lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer rol? "Rafy PhotographyBefore actor Wilson Cz starred as the openly gay Dr.

Hugh Culber on CBS All Accs' “Star Trek: Disvery, ” he ma history playg gay high school stunt Ricky the ‘90s show “My So Called Life. ” It was the first time an openly gay actor played a gay character a leadg role a TV part “helped fluence a whole generatn of people who beme wrers and actors and ntent creators, who wanted to see more people like Ricky, more LGBTQ people of lor, and I thk we're seeg the benef of that today, ” said Cz, who served as executive producer of Apple TV’s "Visible: Out on Televisn, ” a 2020 doceri about the history of the LGBTQ movement through the lens of Amerin Cz ma his but “My So Called Life, ” televisn has been creasgly hirg LGBTQ actors to play LGBTQ characters.

STANLEY TUCCI DEFENDS STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS: “YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY DIFFERENT PEOPLE”

In 2020 alone, queer actor Kristen Stewart played a lbian Hulu’s Christmas rom- “Happit Season, ” out actors Sarah Plson and Cynthia Nixon played love terts Ryan Murphy’s Netflix seri “Ratched, ” gay actor Dan Levy played a queer character the Emmy-wng Canadian show “Scht’s Creek"and several openly gay actors starred the Netflix adaptn of the Tony Award-wng queer play “The Boys the Band. 6 percent) released 2019 featured LGBTQ characters, wh gay male characters reprentg the bulk at nearly 70 percent and no transgenr characters. Straight and cisgenr ‘privilege’While straight and cisgenr actors are given many opportuni to play rol outsi their own genr and sexualy, many gay and trans actors say they are given far ls leeway.

He said the movie bs is “a very heterosexual bs” that’s “n mostly by heterosexual men” and lamented that straight actors takg gay rol has a stiflg effect on gay actors who, like him, are no longer nsired for heterosexual parts. Most notably, perhaps, Tom Hanks, who won an Amy Award for his portrayal of a gay man dyg of AIDS the 1993 film “Philalphia, ” and Hilary Swank, who won the Osr for her performance as transgenr man Brandon Teena the 1999 film “Boys Don’t Cry.

STANLEY TUCCI SAYS HE THKS STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY GAY CHARACTERS

” The amy also nomated actors Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal for their rol the 2005 gay wboy film “Brokeback Mounta, ” Jared Leto for his portrayal of a trans woman the 2013 film “Dallas Buyers Club, ” actor Cate Blanchett for her role the 2015 lbian romantic drama “Carol” and Eddie Redmayne for his portrayal of a trans woman the 2015 film “The Danish Girl.

"Foc FeaturQueer filmmaker Sekiya Dorsett drew a distctn between straight actors playg gay characters and cisgenr actors transgenr rol. He thks gay, cisgenr actors, like himself, should also steer clear.

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

Now, she said actors are rejectg them for fear they will be seen as stealg a role om an openly gay actor.

“To have quote-unquote ‘straight’ actors sayg now, ‘Hey, I won't take that part, bee 's gay, and you should give to a gay person, ’ feels like another way to stigmatize our stori, " Babb said. “What would do is would block all those actors om actg outsi of their lane and so, is that gog to stop my transgenr actors om playg nontransgenr rol or gay rol? “Hontly, a transgenr person playg a gay role would be a really good possibily, and we would unrstand really well, bee we've had to all grapple wh sexualy as an issue.

It’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. The bate over whether or not straight actors should play gay rol isn’t gog to die down any time soon.

STANLEY TUCCI IS PRETTY FE WH STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

While we fely prefer that most gay rol go to gay actors, and we love the thenticy they brg to the rol and the projects they’re , we n’t help but have a special soft spot for a few straight stars, like Brendan Fraser, are great people and great at playg gay, but aren't really known for .