'A gay guy should play a gay guy':… it's no longer 'authentic' for straight actors...

Heartland actor Aidan Moreno believes a 'gay guy should play gay characters' | Daily Mail Online

'Step a side': The actor, who plays the first LGBTQ+ character Rick on the Netflix's Heartland, said he doesn't think it is 'authentic' for a show to have a straight individual play a gay role...

I thought the whole point of acting was pretending to be something you're not. Clearly I'm wrong about that, & we should extend this paradigm to all walks of life. Only cannibals should portray cannibals, and Anthony Hopkins should be cancelled. Same thing for Jodie Foster; she's never been an FBI agent. Ditto Tom Cruise & Matt Damon since they're not really secret agents. So let it be written, so let it be done.

 

I don't know, Rami Malek played Freddie Mercury pretty nicely in the "Bohemian Rhapsody" flick, and Freddie was gay but Rami was straight.

 

Tom Cruise should only be able to play characters that are 5'6 named Tom.

 

While I don't think a male should play Cleopatra, I've seen parts where a straight male plays a gay male quite well.

And before someone dredges up Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, satire/comedy also has it's place. I'm referring to 'serious' portrayals.

 

He did not do well as Jack Reacher, IMO. That doesn't mean he couldn't pull off a gay part if he was inclined.

 

In movies (far more often than tv), straight actors can play gay roles. Sadly, very few gay actors play straight roles.

 

Are you kidding? There are tons of gay actors playing straight roles. You probably just don’t know it.

 

He did OK as Reacher but if you were familiar with Reacher, it was tough to swallow.

 

That's fine. If it's not "authentic" for a straight to play a gay then it's also not "authentic" for a gay to play a straight. Be careful of what you wish for.

 

Is it ok for gay actors to play straight characters? Anyone taking this discussion seriously should call their mommy and have a good cry like the precious little snowflake they are.

 

If one were to separate Cruise from the character created by Child, for an action flick, it was ok.

I have been a fan of Reacher for a number of years, don't think I've missed a book yet. Cruise is just too pretty, and too small for the mental image Child puts forth.

 

That was a hard role to cast and Malek was the perfect choice, so I disagree with the idea that only gays should play gays. If you take that too far all of these "nonbinary" actors should not be playing men or women.

 

Exactly

 

Rock Hudson?

Paul Lynde? Oh wait...

 

I guess they should only cast straight actors for straight roles. If they did, these folks would have very limited work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_gay_actors

 

In that case I don’t think it’s authentic to have gay people play as straight

 

I mean if you wanna cast a gay actor to play a gay character, that's fine with me. But saying it needs to be exclusively just gay actors, no, because you're limiting your potential casting pool.

 

SO many gay actors play straight characters. Who gives a ****? As long as they’re good actors and convincing? Only issue I have is when a show is trying to convince me a character is straight when it’s being playing stereotypically gay. Sorry. Don’t buy it.

The identity politics are insane. Hollywood is insane AND racist and the most bigoted group there is. Can only win awards now if there’s enough representation? Fill those quotas boys!!! And look at the creativity lately!!!! The quality of content is amazing now, hahahahahahaha. I wonder what the problem is

 

It’s funny watching the same “precious little snowflakes” (as @InWalkedBud put it) that flipped their **** about a black mermaid all of a sudden also being upset that someone said characters should be played by representative actors.

Oh so ironic.

 

Your story is about one actors beliefs. Although there are some actors that believe this there are many more that do not. There are many straight actors that have played gay people and may gay actors that have played straight people. Neil Patrick Harris did an excellent job of playing a straight man for 9 seasons on "How I Met Your Mother". Ian McKellen has had a long career and no one ever questioned him playing a straight character.

BUT I think this is part of a bigger discussion in Hollywood about actors playing people of other races and maybe sexuality will fall under this umbrella. Should the best actor be cast for the role or should actors portray characters of their race. For example if we were making a movie about Nelson Mandela could we cast Merly Streep because she is the best actor available? If no is it crossing the race border or the sex border that bothers you?

 

Lol. I think Moreno is probably missing the point of "acting"
Though if that's the way he wants it to work, Moreno's proposal is fine as long as it works both ways.

No longer will we have Gay actors taking roles away from straight actors. Like Holland Taylor, a lesbian IRL who played Charlie's straight mother in Three and a Half Men. She was brilliant playing the promiscuous, irresponsible mother of Charlie Harper.

Conversely, David Hyde Pierce who played Niles on Frashier is straight. I would have never believed Pierce wasn't gay IRL, but he is as straight as an arrow.

 

It would be interesting to hear how he responds if someone asked him whether gay people should play straight characters. He would have to say 'yes of course' (or else that would limit the options for gay people), and listening to his reasoning would be interesting.

 

Know what else is ironic? Those same people that said "why does it matter if a black person plays the mermaid?" are also freaking out over a Hawaiian playing Nani in the Lilo and Stitch live movie being made because she's lighter skinned.

LINK: 'Lilo & Stitch' live-action remake raises concerns about colorism | CNN

 

I haven’t seen anyone mention it here but sure, that’s another example.

Good job!

 

This just makes me so mad I could just spit