British actor Matthew Bose’s Emmerdale gay character, Paul Lambert, will be making some changes over the next few weeks. Namely: getting engaged to his long-time lover, Jonny. So, what’s the straight showman think about the plot move? And, more importantly, his own role in the sudter’s historic spin:
Playing a character like Paul, I have responsibility not to misrepresent the portion of the gay community that I represent… I think the entire idea for Emmerdale to tackle civil partnerships is great, I’m very happy about it.
…
I think it’s very complicated, because even the gay community is split over whether partnerships are a good thing or not. When I was brought on board, I think part of it was because I was very sure about how Paul should be played, and how best to work against stereotypes. This whole storyline wouldn’t work if we’d played Paul from the beginning as someone who was defined by his sexuality… It brings home how the only useful thing about celebrity is raising awareness. To me, celebrity serves no other purpose than that.
So aware! So humble! Bose may be the next Brad Pitt.
Paul Raposo
Nauseating. For how many more years will we have to listen to celebs tell us how wonderful they are for playing gay? Howabout some LGBTQ celebs telling us how great they are for playing gay–or even straight? I personally don’t care for some het pontificating on what the community thinks about things like equal marriage.