Gay actors playing straight characters
Do queer roles really need to be played by queer actors?
It’s a Hollywood cliche that, for a straight male actor, playing a gay role is a shortcut to an Oscar (alongside starring in a film about the Holocaust, disability or mental illness). There have been many prominent examples (Tom Hanks won Top Actor for playing a gay male with AIDS in Philadelphia (1993), Sean Penn for starring in a biopic about gay civil rights activists in Milk), but if such a tactic exists, it’s no longer as viable today: it certainly didn’t out for Bradley Cooper this year, whose recital as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro was snubbed, or Paul Mescal, who wasn’t even nominated for All of Us Strangers.
But there is still a residual sense of prestige for the vertical actor playing homosexual, and while they are far less likely to be described as “brave” for doing so, it still seems to be a mark of seriousness, a way of proving your chops. In fact, now that it tends to be paired with auteur-led, independent cinema rather than middle-brow Oscar bait, it’s more clouty than ever before. In recent months, a flurry of new productions hold been announced in which straight actors – or least, actors
It's been an ~interesting~ journey for homosexual people in the movie and television industry. Once upon a time, male lover and lesbian actors, specifically, had to stay in the closet, and there were next-to-no male lover parts on screen.
The idea that openly gay actors can play het characters is a relatively new phenomenon. Previously, out gay actors could only really work when roles for them a) existed, and b) weren't being given to heterosexual actors.
Now it seems much more acceptable for an openly homosexual actor play a straight character. In fact, here are 18 times an actor has played a straight ethics on screen, despite being openly male lover or queer in real life...
4.Andrew Scott as The Priest in Fleabag
5.Amandla Stenberg as Ruby Daly in The Darkest Minds
6.Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton in Bridgerton
7.B.D. Wong as Wally Lin in Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens
8.Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Bluth Funke in Arrested Development
9.Ben Platt as Evan Hansen in the Dear Evan Hansen movie
10.Justice Smith as Simon Aumar in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
11.Luke Evans as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast
12.Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks in
It’s very common to watch straight actors playing Gay characters; however, it is very rare to observe a gay actor playing a straight character. This is a discussion that has been revolving around Hollywood for quite a few years now.
Many direct actors have played queer roles and vice versa, and as time passes, it seems like the practice is becoming normal. Even though the list may not be very long, but there are some famous gay actors who played straight characters and nailed them. Let’s have a look at these stars.
Luke Evans
Luke Evans is an openly homosexual actor, and he has played several straight characters. Most of you might know him from his famous role in Disney‘s live-action movie “Beauty and the Beast”, in which he played the role of Gaston, the narcissistic chauvinist. Another prominent unbent role that Evans played was of Owen Shaw, the boyfriend of Michelle Rodriguez, in “Fast & Furious”.
In an interview with Attitude Men, while talking about playing straight characters, Evans said, “You can be happy with yourself, and you can also be whoever you yearn. You can have any career you want, and nothi
Rebel Wilson thinks it's 'nonsense' that straight actors shouldn't be competent to play gay characters
Is it OK for straight actors to portray LGBTQ+ people? Rebel Wilson is weighing in on the debate.
In an interview with BBC's "Desert Island Discs" on Sunday, the "Pitch Perfect" star, 44, argued against the notion that gay characters must be played by gay performers.
"Saying only vertical actors can play straight roles and gay actors can compete gay roles ... I consider is total nonsense," she said. "You should be able to play any role that you want."
Wilson raised this point while discussing the idea that only members of certain communities should be able to make jokes about that community. "In comedy, your job is to always flirt with that line of what's acceptable," she said, adding that good comedy won't reach out of always trying to be "safe and protective."
The "Bridesmaids" actress debuted her new girlfriend, Ramona Agruma, on Instagram during Pride Month in 2022. "I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince ... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess," she said at the time. The following year, Wilson revealed she and Agruma were engaged.
Need a brea
It’s very common to watch straight actors playing Gay characters; however, it is very rare to observe a gay actor playing a straight character. This is a discussion that has been revolving around Hollywood for quite a few years now.
Many direct actors have played queer roles and vice versa, and as time passes, it seems like the practice is becoming normal. Even though the list may not be very long, but there are some famous gay actors who played straight characters and nailed them. Let’s have a look at these stars.
Luke Evans
Luke Evans is an openly homosexual actor, and he has played several straight characters. Most of you might know him from his famous role in Disney‘s live-action movie “Beauty and the Beast”, in which he played the role of Gaston, the narcissistic chauvinist. Another prominent unbent role that Evans played was of Owen Shaw, the boyfriend of Michelle Rodriguez, in “Fast & Furious”.
In an interview with Attitude Men, while talking about playing straight characters, Evans said, “You can be happy with yourself, and you can also be whoever you yearn. You can have any career you want, and nothi Is it OK for straight actors to portray LGBTQ+ people? Rebel Wilson is weighing in on the debate. In an interview with BBC's "Desert Island Discs" on Sunday, the "Pitch Perfect" star, 44, argued against the notion that gay characters must be played by gay performers. "Saying only vertical actors can play straight roles and gay actors can compete gay roles ... I consider is total nonsense," she said. "You should be able to play any role that you want." Wilson raised this point while discussing the idea that only members of certain communities should be able to make jokes about that community. "In comedy, your job is to always flirt with that line of what's acceptable," she said, adding that good comedy won't reach out of always trying to be "safe and protective." The "Bridesmaids" actress debuted her new girlfriend, Ramona Agruma, on Instagram during Pride Month in 2022. "I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince ... but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess," she said at the time. The following year, Wilson revealed she and Agruma were engaged.
Rebel Wilson thinks it's 'nonsense' that straight actors shouldn't be competent to play gay characters