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

actors playing gay characters

Stanely Tucci says 's the job of an actor to play different people, which is why straight performanc n take on gay rol.

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BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

Jam Corn's performance as a gay man "The Prom" was lambasted, but Ewan McGregor's turn "Halston" has been acclaimed. * actors playing gay characters *

"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. 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.

”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. 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.

20 GREAT ROL: OUR FAVORE STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS

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. * actors playing gay characters *

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. "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. Thanks to the shownners drivg thentic stori, filmmakers buckg s-old heteronormative paradigms, actors embolned to live more hontly and platforms bankrollg so much of , beg gay, queer, transgenr or any other other has never been more wily embraced the entertament s gural Pri issue, The Hollywood Reporter homed on the talent and makers helpg boost visibily and creatg opportuni for members of the extend LGBTQ muny.

After more than a of Watch What Happens Live Wh Andy Cohen, where he beme the first openly gay host Amerin late night, Bravo's exec turned talent tackl all kds of media (SiriXM show Rad Andy, multiple books), while upliftg and advotg for the LGBTQ muny. Puttg his stamp on The Ln Kg — he played Timon to great acclaim the billn-dollar-earng Disney reboot — the out-and-proud funnyman will next play Matt Ddge  Amerin Crime Story: Impeachment while his upg Judd Apatow-produced feature at Universal is set to be the first gay rom- om a major stud.

Creator of the NBC s One Big Happy and her own YouTube talk show This Jt Out, Feldman recently ma her Netflix edy outright queer, as Dead to Me's sophomore season revealed a lead character to be bisexual.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS

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

Watchg Rickie Vasquez, a gay character played by an openly gay actor, Wilson Cz, certaly felt like the most hont and rpectful portrayal of a gay teen I had ever seen.

I'LL FEEL GOOD ABOUT HOLLYWOOD'S LGBTQ REPRESENTATION WHEN "When 'gay actor, ' 'gay director, ' 'gay wrer, ' 'gay story, ' et cetera, are no longer labels even worth mentng.

STRAIGHT ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED GAY CHARACTERS

Due to the greater acceptance of homosexualy today's society, we are seeg a rise the reprentatn of gay characters mastream cema. One tertg pot is that often the gay characters are played by straight people. * actors playing gay characters *

In addn to speakg, and sgg, publicly about his own gay relatnships, Platt plays bi on The Polician — acuntg for several of the seri' many entangled LGBTQ romanc. ' Yet, is still all too rare to fd — or produce Hollywood — stori where the humany of gay black men is not qutn, but is a given and is central to the story.

In 2019, the bisexual actor uld be seen as French New Wave in Jean Seberg Venice premiere tle Seberg, as a secret agent Sony's Charlie's Angels reboot and on a particularly gay episo of SNL.

STANLEY TUCCI: IT’S OK FOR STRAIGHT ACTORS TO PLAY GAY ROL IF DONE ‘THE RIGHT WAY’

Stanley Tucci, who portrayed queer men 'The Devil Wears Prada' and 'Supernova,' wad to the bate about straight actors playg gay characters. * actors playing gay characters *

The queer Salvadoran edian translated the handful of breakout Saturday Night Live scen he wrote to multiple als at HBO — where he buted the edy special My Favore Shap  2019 and is readyg season two of Los Espookys, the half-Spanish, half-English, entirely absurd edy which he stars as the gay heir to a cholate fortune. After 45 seasons, 's hard to believe there are any firsts left for Saturday Night Live — but Yang arrived at 30 Rock 2019 as the st's first Che Amerin stmember and only s third openly gay male.

As to why he didn't publicly nfirm his sexualy durg the show's first n, spe prsure om the LGBTQ muny, Hay told the Los Angel Tim that he was overwhelmed: "I didn’t want the rponsibily, I didn’t know how to handle the rponsibily of speakg for the gay muny. A few months after he first began playg gay ary veteran Alex Man on Roswell, New Mexi, Blackburn revealed to the Advote that he's intified as bisexual sce he was a teenager, but he'd supprsed his attractn to men for a long time. "In light of Jamey’s ath, beme clear to me an stant that livg a gay life whout publicly acknowledgg is simply not enough to make any signifint ntributn to the immense work that li ahead on the road to plete equaly, " Quto wrote.

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

We loved the straight actors playg gay! * actors playing gay characters *

In 2006, NPH me out sayg that he was “happy to dispel any mors or misnceptns, ” that he is “que proud to say that I am a very ntent gay man livg my life to the fullt and feel most fortunate to be workg wh wonrful people the bs I love. Before g out as gay 2014, his heartwarmg speech livered at the Time to Thrive nference which aims to promote LGBT youth welfare, and later as a transgenr man 2020, Ellt Page was st as the tular role of the edy classic Juno. He believ that “livg a gay life whout publicly acknowledgg is simply not enough to make any signifint ntributn to the immense work that li ahead on the road to plete equaly.

In his acceptance speech, Jonathan Bailey prais the productn for beg “a lovely and celebratory snapshot of gay love” what he scribed as “a time where acknowledgg the very existence of LGBT people our schools is beg qutned.

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 .

STANLEY TUCCI SAYS IT’S ‘FE’ FOR STRAIGHT ACTORS TO PLAY GAY ROL: ‘YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO PLAY DIFFERENT PEOPLE. THAT’S THE WHOLE POT OF IT’

We want a future where every talented queer actor n get whatever rol they want and where queer actors fally w awards for playg queer rol, but until then, the ten actors show that not every straight actor should be banned om playg gay on screen.

We loved when McGregor played a gay mate Phillip Morris the dark edy I Love You Phillip Morris, and aga when he played real-life legendary fashn signer Halston the Netflix miseri Halston. From smaller movi like The Daytrippers and Ltle Chaos, to his inic gay rol The Devil Wears Prada, Burlque, and Supernova (oppose fellow straight-actor-we-love Col Firth), he always do the gay muny right. Chalamet hasn’t had as many gay rol as the rt of the people on this list (he’s only 27, after all), but he ma que the imprsn on the queer muny wh his touchg and realistic performance as a lovtck teen Lu Guadagno’s classic g-of-age romance Call Me by Your Name.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* ACTORS PLAYING GAY CHARACTERS

Stanley Tucci Says Straight Actors Can Play Gay Characters - Variety.

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