Neil Patrick Harris on straight actors playg gay characters

Contents:

• SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS STILL PLAY GAY CHARACTERS? 'IT'S PLITED'
• NEIL PATRICK HARRIS SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY CHARACTERS
• HELP! I'M GAY BUT I’M ONLY ATTRACTED TO STRAIGHT ACTG MEN
• ACTG GAY, ACTG STRAIGHT: SEXUAL ORIENTATN STEREOTYPG
• WHY DO SOME GAY MEN INTIFY AS "STRAIGHT-ACTG" AND HOW IS IT RELATED TO WELL-BEG?

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

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. ”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.

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.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS SHAR HIS THOUGHTS ON STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAYG GAY 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. ” 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. Now, she said actors are rejectg them for fear they will be seen as stealg a role om an openly gay actor.

HELP! I'M GAY BUT I’M ONLY ATTRACTED TO STRAIGHT ACTG MEN

“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?

ACTG GAY, ACTG STRAIGHT: SEXUAL ORIENTATN STEREOTYPG

“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. The performance was so stereotypil that, to me, was borrle homophobic. In one scene, his character reveals he had to leave his childhood before g out as gay.

In 1993, Tom Hanks played a gay man dyg of AIDS "Philalphia, " and 1999, Hilary Swank gave a movg performance as a transgenr man "Boys Don't Cry. After watchg "The Prom, " I realized we should be at a place where we don't need Corn to play a gay man.

There are plenty of gay actors who uld have done the job — probably better.

WHY DO SOME GAY MEN INTIFY AS "STRAIGHT-ACTG" AND HOW IS IT RELATED TO WELL-BEG?

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.

"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.

The 47-year-old actor is revealg his thoughts on the ntroversial nversatn about who gets to play what 22, 2021, 4:24 AM UTC / Source: TODAYNeil Patrick Harris is openg up about his thoughts on whether or not straight actors should play gay on televisn and film. ”The 47-year-old actor is about to be part of an all gay male ensemble the new seri "It’s A S, " that was directed by Rsell T Davi, the creator of "Queer as Folk.