To promote his new drama seri about Aids the early 1980s, Rsell T. Davi sisted an terview that gay characters should be played only by actors who are actually gay. This was madng for a number of reasons, startg wh blatant hypocrisy. One of the thgs that ma Davi’s Queer As Folk so
Contents:
- IT’S A S CREATOR RSELL T DAVI: “CAST GAY AS GAY”
- ‘IT’S A S’ CREATOR RSELL T DAVI SAYS IT’S IMPORTANT TO CAST GAY ACTORS AS GAY CHARACTERS
- IT’S A S’S NATHANIEL CURTIS WEIGHS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY ROL: ‘IT HAS TO BE DONE WH RPECT’
- 'IT'S A S' BRGS A LOST GENERATN OF GAY MEN TO LIFE
- I WOULD BE HORRIFIED IF I SAW A STRAIGHT ACTOR ST A GAY ROLE IT’S A S
- YOU’LL WISH YOU WERE GAY: CHANNEL 4’S IT’S A S REVIEWED
IT’S A S CREATOR RSELL T DAVI: “CAST GAY AS GAY”
'It's a S' creator Rsell T. Davi on the journey of the HBO Max AIDS drama, stg gay actors gay rol and the show's "queer energy." * which actors in it's a sin are gay *
After beg disowned by his fay for his sexualy, Rose found muny wh London's gay scene as a bar worker. They’re full of love, lghs and, above all else, fun, showg s ensemble of young gay characters — brought together London om var walks of life across the U. An ia that had been “alcg” Davi’ head sce 1995 — even before his groundbreakg 1999 LGBT drama Queer as Folk (which was actually cricized the gay prs for not addrsg the AIDS epimic) — It’s a S formally started takg shape 2015 wh regular producg llaborator Nila Shdler (whose first project was Queer as Folk and has sce produced many of Davi’ other dramas, cludg 2018’s crilly-ld Years and Years).
Not only are they all actg newers (Alexanr is better known as the lead sger of the band lled, cintally, Years & Years), but they’re also openly gay real life, which was a nsc cisn ma by Rsell (who also st Steven Fry and Neil Patrick Harris smaller rol). K., sparked the sort of reactn om mentators the prs that one might expect (“It’s unual for straight people to have an opn on how gay people should behave, ” he says wh a lgh).
The emotnal glue that bds It’s a S’s gay characters together is s only heterosexual central figure, Jill (Lydia Wt).
‘IT’S A S’ CREATOR RSELL T DAVI SAYS IT’S IMPORTANT TO CAST GAY ACTORS AS GAY CHARACTERS
Rsell T Davi ss down wh Nick Leve to discs his new seri rooted the 80s Aids crisis, LGBTQ reprentatn on screen and straight actors playg gay characters * which actors in it's a sin are gay *
It’s Jill who, as the drama velops, be an AIDS activist, leadg fundraisg mpaigns to support awarens and rearch, and also helps support gay men sufferg om the disease, often solu after beg shunned by their fai. When you were told there was a plague that kills only gay men, I thk we were absolutely jtified fdg that ridiculo.
It’s A S Creator Rsell T Davi: “Cast Gay as Gay” | AnOtherIt’s A S, 2021(Film still)Rsell T Davi ss down wh Nick Leve to discs his new seri rooted the 80s Aids crisis, LGBTQ reprentatn on screen and straight actors playg gay charactersJanuary 20, 2021. Sce he created the groundbreakg gay drama Queer as Folk 1999, the Swansea-born wrer has nsistently elevated LGBTQ reprentatn mastream TV. As gay mat Rchie (Olly Alexanr), Rose (Omari Douglas), Ash (Nathaniel Curtis) and Col (Callum Stt Howells), pl female iend Jill (Lydia Wt), lose iends and lovers to the disease, Davi pats a poignant portra of how to fe their liv.
NL: In episo four we see Nathaniel Curtis’s character Ash eviscerate Sectn 28, the Thatcher ernment’s barbaric legislatn prohibg the “promotn” of homosexualy schools. RTD: I thk would have been odd to have wrten a gay drama set the 80s wh no mentn of . If you were a teacher and a child was beg bullied for beg gay ont of you, there was nothg you uld say.
IT’S A S’S NATHANIEL CURTIS WEIGHS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY ROL: ‘IT HAS TO BE DONE WH RPECT’
Rsell T Davi, the creator of It’s A S, has spoken out about the importance of stg gay actors as gay characters. * which actors in it's a sin are gay *
I thk ls than half of our current bet voted for gay marriage – certaly our Home Secretary, Pri Patel, who’s charge of the laws of the land, voted agast gay marriage. They’re a gay male band wh their one female iend, which is very, very 80s. They existed then and they exist now; there’s a lot of Tory gays.
And a way, that’s a reactn to [Alan Hollghurst’s semal novel] The Le of Bety, where the lead character – a gay man the 80s – danc wh Mrs Thatcher.
“My take is to st gay as gay. Nohels, I do mata that if you take soaps and LGBTQ wrers out of the equatn, you n watch an awful lot of ne o’clock drama and streamg drama whout gay characters . I loved Bridgerton, but I was astonished that had about ten sends of gayns .
'IT'S A S' BRGS A LOST GENERATN OF GAY MEN TO LIFE
It's a S star Nathaniel Curtis has said straight actors should only play gay characters if they're willg to do "wh rpect". * which actors in it's a sin are gay *
It’s a show that’s so lavish, geo and wonrful – ’s a great show – but you n gay that up, please. NL: What’s your take on straight actors playg gay characters? RTD: My take is to st gay as gay.
I believe we have 40 or 50 gay speakg parts It’s A S and they’re all played by gay actors. And actually, that’s very hard to do bee you’re not allowed an dn to ask someone whether they’re gay or not. And that’s a great le: jt as the head of T n’t ask someone who wants to work on the shop floor whether they’re gay or not.
Nohels, you n make clear that you’re very open to openly gay actors g to dn. And then some smart voice will evably chime wh, ‘Well, you don’t md gay actors playg straight. ’ And I’ll tell you what, no, I don’t md a gay actor playg straight.
I WOULD BE HORRIFIED IF I SAW A STRAIGHT ACTOR ST A GAY ROLE IT’S A S
A new Brish TV drama looks at the liv of gay men London at the very start of the AIDS crisis — back when no one wanted to stop the party, and no one thought the vis uld touch them. * which actors in it's a sin are gay *
Bee om the age of eight, gay people learn to f wh the straight world and act straight. So if you want a great performance, st a gay actor as a straight man bee he’s been studyg how straight men behave for an awful long time. Rsell T Davi, the creator of Channel 4 and HBO Max’s upg AIDS crisis seri It’s A S, has spoken out about the importance of stg gay actors as gay characters.
YOU’LL WISH YOU WERE GAY: CHANNEL 4’S IT’S A S REVIEWED
IT's A S, which follows the liv of young gay men facg the aids epimic, was hailed as one as one of the bt dramas of seri, which p * which actors in it's a sin are gay *
The A Very English Sndal wrer told the Rad Tim: “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 enemy, or someone on dgs or a crimal or a sat… they are not there to ‘act gay’ bee ‘actg gay’ is a bunch of s for a performance. Davi was not emphatic about only stg gay actors as gay characters — and his past work shows that straight men have featured gay rol he has thored.
It’s A S do the stori of those who died om AIDS or lost their gay loved on to the disease jtice bee ’s told by gay men. * which actors in it's a sin are gay *
Channel 4’s 1999 seri Queer as Folk featured straight actors Aidan Gillen, Craig Kelly, and Charlie Hunnam as three men livg the Manchter gay scene. It’s A S is loosely based on Davi’ own life, explorg iendship and love durg the 1980s AIDS crisis through the ey of three young gay men as they embark on a new life London. But the 1980s I kept my head down and worked a lot, I didn’t start gog out properly on the gay scene until I was my 30s, the 90s.
It’s a S star Nathaniel Curtis has said straight actors should only play gay characters if they’re willg to do “wh rpect”.
* which actors in it's a sin are gay *
The actor, who played Ash Mherjee the h Channel 4 seri, weighed on the ongog bate around whether straight actors should take on gay rol an terview wh Digal Spy. “You have a straight actor play a gay role, and throw them an Osr. You have a gay actor play a straight role, and ’s like, ‘Who are they tryg to kid?
What, a le up of gay characters played by a st of actual gay people?