Neil Patrick Harris on straight actors playg gay characters

Contents:

• BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• STANLEY TUCCI: IT’S OK FOR STRAIGHT ACTORS TO PLAY GAY ROL IF DONE ‘THE RIGHT WAY’
• SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAY GAY ROL? A STAR TV WRER SAYS NO
• TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’
• NEIL PATRICK HARRIS SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• STANLEY TUCCI SAYS HE HAS 'DIFFICULTY' WH ARGUMENT THAT GAY CHARACTERS SHOULD ONLY BE PLAYED BY LGBTQ ACTORS
• STANLEY TUCCI SAYS HE THKS STRAIGHT ACTORS SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY GAY CHARACTERS
• 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’

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH OPENS UP ABOUT STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG 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.

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

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. “And I’m always very flattered when gay men e up to me and talk about ‘The Devil Wears Prada, ’ when they talk about ‘Supernova, ’ and they say that was ‘jt so betiful.

SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAY GAY ROL? A STAR TV WRER SAYS NO

” “It’s important that gay characters are portrayed as well-round and pletely human dividuals, ” add Parsons, who noted that “there are plenty of straight actors who have played gay characters brilliantly. ”And “Glee” alum Darren Criss ma headl 2018 for sayg that he might stop playg gay characters, tellg Btle, “I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy takg a gay man’s role. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTRsell T Davi, whose latt h seri is “It’s a S” on HBO Max, ma wav England by sayg only gay performers should play gay characters.

“I’m gog to war, ” he Ben Blackall/HBO Max“It’s a S, ” about 20-somethgs nontg the AIDS crisis the 1980s, broke new ground for s creator, Rsell T Davi, bee he had never wrten about the epimic there was somethg else that ma this HBO Max seri different om the other gay-themed programs Davi had wrten, om the origal “Queer as Folk” to “A Very English Sndal”: “It’s a S” is the first show he has ma which nearly all the gay parts are played by gay the ever-eager pugilist is stirrg ntroversy by argug terviews that, om now on, only gay actors should be allowed gay rol. ”Firth and Stanley Tucci play a gay uple the new movie “Supernova, ” and Firth snagged his first Amy Award nomatn 2009 for playg a gay character “A Sgle Man. There is also growg nsens that transgenr rol should be played only by transgenr before the mixed gay-straight stg of “The Inherance, ” an AIDS drama that premiered London 2018 and moved to Broadway the followg year, there hadn’t been very much public bate about the suabily of straight actors gay laid out his new posn a barrage of terviews before the January but of “It’s a S” on Bra’s Channel 4, provokg attacks om the lik of Piers Man — “Equaly means equaly, or don’t, ” he said on “Good Morng Bra” — and Peter Ash, a straight actor who plays a gay role on “Coronatn Street, ” the world’s longt nng soap opera.

Davi is now advotg discrimatn agast heterosexual actors who want to dn for gay fact, the laws of Bra and the Uned Stat make Davi vulnerable to legal challeng if a straight person n prove that he wasn’t nsired for a part bee he isn’t gay. “That would not jtify a blanket policy but might be ed an argument for a particular play or film where thenticy is particularly important — and where the orientatn of the relevant actors is public knowledge, ” Kenyon ’s posn is ght and somewhat puzzlg for reasons that have ls to do wh fairns than wh his own past work: He has prevly ed straight actors very succsfully many gay rol. “I’ve employed plenty of straight people straight parts, and their succs has paved the way for me to be here now, ” Davi he actually believe there is a gay actor who uld have given a more nvcg performance than Grant did?

TOM HOLLAND’S GAY SEX SCENE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIGHT AFTER THE ACTOR SAID PLAYG THE ROLE ‘BROKE HIM’

And sce there are so many more straight rol than gay on, he thks isn’t right to make gay actors pete agast their straight unterparts to play gay characters.

”Davi is askg people like Tucci and Firth to reject gay rol the future, though he said he would be willg to make an exceptn if a marquee name were the only way he uld get a productn fanced. ”I suggted to Davi that many 20-somethgs, who are scribg themselv growg numbers as sexually fluid, would be baffled by his sistence that gay rol mt be played by actors a tegory that some young people no longer even regnize. 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 .

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

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. We have some of the most pellg liv, so 's not surprisg that everyone wants to tell our s gotten better recent years, throughout history, most great gay rol have gone to straight actors, wh over a dozen wng Osrs for playg LGBTQ+ characters. Sometim n be tirome seeg straight actors get all of this praise for brgg gay people to life, but other tim s tly are our ten favore performanc by straight actors playg queer characters movi and TV om 2022.

While she spends most of her time at work yellg at men who flirt wh the sk clerk she's cshg on and ly tellg guts that she n't help them, Victoria is secretly holdg a ep secret: she's gay, but has never been wh a woman. Regardls of where you stand on the qutn of stg, one simple fact is te: straight actors are overwhelmgly the on brgg queer characters to life the mastream right now – such as new drama Supernova, released last month and starrg Col Firth and Stanley Tucci as a gay uple. “They are unrstandg about the civil rights needs to see a a gay [bankable] ‘name’ actor playg an important homo role, but their te wish and eedom would arrive if we lived a world where didn’t matter.

STANLEY TUCCI SAYS HE HAS 'DIFFICULTY' WH ARGUMENT THAT GAY CHARACTERS SHOULD ONLY BE PLAYED BY LGBTQ ACTORS

When actors do choose to e out, they n be typest and subjected to abe on the job: SAG-AFTRA’s study, over half of s LGBT+ rponnts had heard homophobic ments on set. ” Gvanni Bienne, chair of actg unn Equy’s LGBT+ Commtee rells one agent advisg him to ‘act straight’ durg an dn for a heterosexual role, while a prcipal at drama school once told him that as a gay man of Italian herage, he would only ever play “gay ice-cream men”. While homophob are by gettg mad at Tom Holland for havg a gay scene his current show The Crowd Room, they’re missg somethg important: he’s not the first Spir-Man actor to play gay.

In fact, Holland is followg a long and proud tradn of Spir-Man actors playg are some prev tim that actors who have played Peter Parker have crossed over to the other si and played gay characters movi, TV, and on stage. In The Crowd Room, Holland, who plays Spir-Man the Marvel Cematic Universe, plays a troubled young man named Danny Sullivan, who ms some heo crim, but also has gay sex.

John Benjam Hickey — whose Col “In Treatment” is heterosexual — has been outspokenly gay for years, but Emmy-nomated Emma Corr was not yet publicly queer when she was st as Prcs Diana “The Crown.

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

Knight, Emmy-nomated 2007 for playg hetero heartthrob Gee “Grey’s Anatomy” and who now — alongsi fellow out “The Flight Attendant” st member Griff Matthews — plays gay that Emmy-nomated seri.

”“In the 22 years we’ve worked together, we’ve always brought gay and straight actors for straight and gay rol, ” says Emmy-nomated Sharon Bialy of Bialy/Thomas & Associat, speakg of herself, bs partner Sherry Thomas and associate Rsell Stt.

Kane said she has worked wh some patients who felt nfed bee they intified as gay but didn't act like the gay characters they saw on problem here, she said, is that some of the actors lean to stereotyp, perpetuatg them. She remembers when Matt Bomer – a cisgenr man who intifi as gay — was st the small budget film "Anythg" as a transgenr woman 2017, replacg a trans actrs who was origally st the role before the stud wanted a bigger name.

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’

"It's almost rctive to say straight actors n't play gay characters bee that impli an 'otherg' of gay people, or that gay people are so fundamentally different than straight people that one uld never play the other. However, there needs to be a distctn between actors who put effort to takg the LGBTQ rol serly, and the actors — like Corn "The Prom" — who perhaps jt relied heavily on stereotyp to portray a gay character.

Although he's bt known for playg Sheldon Cooper on "The Big Bang Theory, " Parsons also got touch wh LGBTQ history by playg a gay activist fightg to addrs the risg 1980s HIV-AIDs crisis the 2014 drama "The Normal Heart" (which is based on Larry Kramer's 1985 play of the same name). "I thk the thg that I feel very strongly about is that everybody that I've spoken to is really moved by ['Pri'], and for that reason I say 's not jt a gay film, " Stt told Entertament Weekly 2018. "I thk 's been embraced by the gay muny bee I thk people are very celebratory about the fact that gay people are not jt seen story l that are related to sex or sexualy, that their attribut of kdns and bravery and passn are the thgs that are celebrated the movie.

Actrs and wrer-director DuVall has long played openly gay characters (recently on "The Handmaid's Tale" and her 2016 film "The Interventn") she me out, one of her most proment rol was playg rebell teenager Graham the 2000 satiril edy "But I'm a Cheerlear.