“Artistic licence is artistic licence. If an actor has the attributes to do something, they should be able to do it. They’re acting.
You don’t necessarily have to be gay to play a gay character. Though you do have to be black to play a black character.
It’s like the debate about James Bond. It’s nonsense. It’s a fictional character.
I’ve got mad respect for how Ian Fleming described him. He said he was a white guy, looked like this… That’s how it was written.
How about we take this to the next level?
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But then there’s interpretation. If we were always bound by the confines that something has to be [one way], people would never have expanded on things and come up with some of the most genius ideas.”— Idris Elba to TimeOut London, speaking about the controversy surrounding Disney’s casting of straight actor Jack Whitehall to play the studio’s first openly gay role in The Jungle Cruise
jpcolter
What a load of crap. That attitude would be fine if all things were equal. In today’s world gay actors are actively discriminated against for straight roles. Until that changes the very few gay roles that ever occur should go to gay actors.
Rock-N-RollHS
It should go to the best actor, period, no matter the race, gender, or sexual orientation.
Um, Jim Parsons and Neil Patrick Harris and Portia di Rossi and Wanda Sykes to name a few out gay actors playing str8.
Fact: there are less LGBT actors than str8 ones. And not all of them are that talented.
the LGBT community should focus more of its attention on local politics and laws, less on the bankrupt business of hollywood
DCguy
And if they weren’t closeted when they got cast they would have never been given those roles.
eeaaddgg
Right on.
kookookachoo
Parsons was not closeted and Harris got plenty of good roles after he came out. I’m not familiar with di Rossi or Sykes (except for her stand up ). It’s probably good that Harris was in the closet for his first roles, as he was underage during some. my two cents.
gaimingfoxer
Not to mention Luke McFarlene, Matt Bomber, Luke Evans, Wentworth Miller and a lot of others really – all of them played straight roles even after coming out.
Yeah… Gay actors do get straight roles.
I agree with you entirely. There are a lot of people who go into acting. Most of them can barely afford to eat anything, very few becomes successful let alone A-Listers.
So yes, out of the very few percent that becomes successful, even fewer would be LGBT in real life considering LGBT are minority in the population.
Any attempt at equating the size of gay and hetrosexual actors is absurd.
DCguy
@ kookookachoo
1. You’re lying, Jim Parsons was not out when he got “Big Bang Theory”.
2. Neil Patrick Harris got parts AFTER he came out because he was already a lead on one of the top shows in the country.
The point is, they wouldn’t have gotten the roles in the first place that ALLOWED them to leverage their fame to get other roles, if they were out.
So lets wait until there are actually out actors getting cast in big roles before we start to pretend that they’re stealing roles.
DCguy
Ok Idris, so then I’m sure you will be fine with Taylor Swift staring in Aretha Franklin’s life story?
eeaaddgg
Perhaps you should have read the post first: He said,” You don’t necessarily have to be gay to play a gay character. Though you do have to be black to play a black character”.
Wipe that egg off your face, and carry on.
DCguy
@eeaaddgg
No, what I read was him saying “This OTHER group shouldn’t be able to get roles based on who they are, but MY group should.”
His comment was irrelevant to facts. But you seem to be VERY invested in attacking the idea of LGBT actors being cast in LGBT roles, care to explain?
barkomatic
I don’t even think he understand how contradictory his argument is.
SamDixon3972
No – the argument being made by Idris Elba is not contradictory. That is unless you wish to go back to the days of “black face” and Mickey Ronney playing Asian in movies and other entertainment.
What Idris Elba is referring to is being “authentic” to the character that one is playing. While you can believe that any decent actor can play any role – there are real world limitations. Some actors can simply be “too old”, “too young”, the wrong gender, etc. among many other characteristics to play certain roles effectively, that is without bringing any issues of race, ethnicity, etc. Some roles are simply a “better fit” for certain actors to allow the audience to suspend belief enough to enjoy the production.
In the BBC series London Spy, would anyone think to replace the marvelous actor Jim Broadbent with James Franco? In that series Jim Broadbent effectively plays an elderly gay man who has had to live a closeted lifestyle and former spy. Does anyone really think that all is needed is too slap on a gray wig to James Franco and he could effectively play that role? Would it be an authentic performance?
Does anyone here really think the movie, “The Tuskegee Airmen”, could be played effectively and authentically with just a group of white male actors? The movie, “The Tuskegee Airmen” was produced in 1995 starring Laurence Fishburne, Allen Payne, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and others. The story of those fighter pilots was also reprised in the 2012 movie, Red Tails.
Both movies, The Tuskegee Airmen, and Red Tails – portrayed the group of African American pilots who overcame racist opposition to finally be given the chance to prove themselves in the sky and become one of the finest US fighter groups in World War II, even as they battled discrimination on the ground in 1944.
Or how about 42 with Chadwick Boseman playing the 1947 era, Jackie Robinson, who becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.
Or Daniel Kaluuya from the movie, Get Out, as a young African-American visits his white girlfriend’s parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point. Do you really think that Chris Pine could play that role?
Think any of these roles could be played effectively and authentically with even a very good white male actor? I think not. Of course there are plenty of roles where the race or ethnicity of the character is not as pertinant to the production and any good competent actor can fill that role. And of course, that is good.
There is a very wide spectrum to the Gay Community, and in our expression of being gay men. There are plenty of gay stories out there – but not many concerning young Black Gay Guys in love, like Midnight. Of course there several dozens of movies about gay white males in love – played effectively and authentically by gay and straight actors. Does anyone really want to say the Brokeback Mountain was not a very good movie, even though both actors in real life are straight?
There are a whole range of stories out there, that deserve to be told effectively and authentically. That is the goal to strive for.
Sam
broadshoulder
A message to the Worlds media
Stop harassing Idris about the Bond role. He’s said no. He says he is too old. Stop harassing him.
You are making yourselves look foolish
rray63
It’s such a unique position. He carved out, “black roles must go to black actors” and then threw gays under the bus. While I do believe that any decent actor can play any role and that it should not be limited, I’m certainly not going to be as hypocritical as he apparently is. I said it before, if gays and trans, etc. insists on this we will only succeed in sending gays, etc. back into the closet. I mean a good case in point is Matt Bomer, should he have been barred from playing in White Collar because he is gay and the role is straight? It’s the same thing. While I want us to have more, and better representation, I don’t want to limit any actors choices. Or casting director’s choices.
gaimingfoxer
He isn’t throwing anyone under the bus. By the same logic a straight actors isn’t a must to for a straight role.
How is that throwing anyone under the bus?
P.S
While Matt Bomber wasn’t denied the role in White Collar because he is gay in real life – he was passed on for the role of Superman because he is gay in real life.
A shame really… Look at Mr. CGI mustache we got stuck with instead.
WindsorOntario
Same reason why these gay for pay adult websites are so popular – people want to see young, athletic, muscular, perfect looking men. And since non-gay men make up more than 95% of the population, chances are they will be chosen over gay men for roles. Like it or not, a lot of the ‘stereotypically gay men’ are what’s out there in people who watch tv and see movies don’t want to see that. That’s just how it is. Just like gay men watching those porn sites don’t want to see two stereotypically gay men going at it. They want to see their fantasy of young collegiate athletes they’d never have a chance with. Society and other gay men might ‘tolerate’ us, but they don’t want to see us.
Lacuevaman
it called “acting” for a reason
Mack
I agree with you on that. I do think the Hollywood should focus on hiring the best actor for the part and stop letting the casting couch get in the way.
DCguy
What a shock, all the same screenames that defend bigots and cry about Trump being a victim attack the idea of LGBTs being cast in big roles.
radiooutmike
Really?
So, some things are immutable like color or sexuality. But it’s okay if not-someone portrays someone as long as that difference is not immediately noticeable?
And yes, I get what he’s saying and some here as well. But, they’re not getting point…it’s not about a specific role. The point is that the system is not even looking for LGBT actors to play those LGBT roles. Yes there are more heterosexual actors, but there should be a larger presence of LGBT actors since they’ve always presumed to be more present in the arts in the first place.
gaimingfoxer
Actually no, you say you get what he’s saying but you’re really not.
You can’t claim to “get it” and then say in the next line that they aren’t even looking for LGBT actors… Those are contradiction in terms.
Sexual orientation isn’t something visible on a person. We can look at a picture of a male model and have no idea if he’s gay or straight. Ergo, you can cast him in a part of a gay or a straight man.
Skin color is another issue entirely.
Let’s face it, if you want a movie to make headlines you want to have A-list actors. Brokeback mountain, Moonlight etc are all movies that had prominent actors in them and gotten major recognition for it.
Heck, I don’t recall anyone making a fuss over Boys don’t Cry either. It’s just some dumb recent trend that people jump on.
alterego1980
I agree with his sentiment, but his analogy is just stupid and off the mark. It’s more like, do you need an American actor to play an american? Can it be played by a Brit or an Aussie? Of course it can.
If you insist on gays playing gay characters, then what? are gays not allowed to play straight characters? People are not thinking. they should be pushing for inclusion of gay actors into more roles and the inclusion of well-rounded gay portrayals in more movies and tv. the two can be mutually exclusive. conflating the two is dangerous and limiting.
Esscourt
He would be hot AF if he was to play James Bond!
kookookachoo
I agree 100%. They’re actors. Let them do their job and pick the best one for the role, no matter what.
Bob LaBlah
What makes a show or movie work is the chemistry between the actors. The Beverly Hillbillies is a perfect example of good casting. The show lasted as long as it did because of the chemistry between the actors once the director said roll’em. You guys are too young to remember him but despite wit and humor it was a mistake to give Paul Lynde (Uncle Arthur from Bewitched) a show where he had to play a strait man with a wife and kids (The Paul Lynde Show). It was rumored he intentionally loused up the show to speed up its demise because he too knew it wasn’t going to work and realized himself that it was a mistake to keep the rest of the cast in that type of pain. That show was just god awful but gay actors who were lucky enough to find work had no other choice. Lynde wasn’t exactly out of the closet but no one was crazy enough to not figure out what his sexual preference.
Sam6969
“You don’t necessarily have to be gay to play a gay character.”
It is true, Idris, but just like with a movie about black characters, to be honest and authentic, a non-figurative modern movie should not adapt to straight actors per se so that they do not French kiss each other but pretend to do it. If a straight actor plays it right he should be able to French kiss another man without resorting to tricks (like hiding the kiss with his hand or using the convenient self-rejection of the character as an alibi for frantic superficial kissing, just like in Brokeback Mountain —which is a good movie, but full of such artifice). If you want to play a gay role then you should have to play it full…or let it play by gay actors.
Actually, I think the problem is not that straight actors play mainstream gay roles (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were great in BM), but that they systematically play mainstream gay roles that adapt their content to their straight actors (and audience).
I am sure many people are more comfortable thinking the famous actors are straight rather than really gay in mainstream movies. It is more comfortable for them to think they just witness people pretending to be gay and if they are handsome it is even much better to accept, as being handsome is also a mitigating factor for large audience —but that’s just not honest and authentic.
So, the nonsense, Idris, is that straight exclusivity for biased reasons.
gaimingfoxer
Actually I’d say the opposite.
Straight actors get more recognition for gay roles because it is assumed it is an effort for them. While on the other hand, a gay actor playing straight role is considered easier, since let’s face it a lot of gay people did pretend to be straight while they were in the closet.
Sam6969
Well, it is both true (the recognition part) and (often) unjustified, for the reasons I explained. If the movie systematically hides your limits, it is always easier to get the award.
It is also hypocritically homophobic and disgustingly unfair.
Actually, it is not the opposite of what I wrote.
djmcgamester
If Tom Hanks hadn’t been willing to play gay way back when, you think anyone would have gave a damn about “Philadelphia”? If straight actors can take parts that actually help us move forward in society, they shouldn’t be shoved aside because we have gotten to a better place.
Hmmm…”Birdcage” ? Anyone complaining that Robin Williams played gay?
There’s so much hypocrisy here that it’s ridiculous.
Sam6969
@djmcgamester wrote: “If straight actors can take parts that actually help us move forward in society, they shouldn’t be shoved aside because we have gotten to a better place.”
Did I say the opposite? Obviously, it is true, but if we really “have gotten to a better place”, as you wrote, then gay actors should not be shoved aside either. Plus, if straight actors really have the right attributes to do the job, as states Idris Elba, then they should do it fully, not hidden behind some scripted artifice. I would love to see Luke Evans and, let’s say, Lee Pace, for instance, falling in love on the big screen and making love. Then we would see if we notice any difference in terms of realism. The same actors are great in ‘straight’ kissing (and sex) scenes. They simply do the job convincingly.
Donston
Acting is indeed acting. And being straight shouldn’t equate to not being cast in a gay role. But these actors keep conveniently skirting over issues. Openly gay/homo-leaning actors have a more difficult time getting high profile roles in general and Hollywood continues to pressure individuals to retain a sense of heteronormalcy. You must acknowledge those limitations and frustations first and foremost. Furthermore, it would also be nice to hear from actual openly gay actors on this topic instead of constantly hearing from straight (or in some cases “mostly straight”) actors telling gay people how they should feel.
OzJosh
By this new logic, all psychopaths and serial killers must now be played by real psychopaths and serial killers. Only they could possibly have the psychological insight and life experience to play those characters. And it should make for a VERY interesting working environment on the production.
Sam6969
LOL Actually, psychopaths are everywhere and are usually not the killers we see in movies. Never heard about James Fallon, the scientist who studied scanned brains of psychopaths? In 2005, checking his own scan, he discovered he was one of them ^^ which lead to spread a truth: psychopaths are quite common (particularly in specific professional areas) and most of them are not actual killers.
So, yes, being a psychopath is an asset to play a psychopath in movies, but that is not compulsory if the actor does the job…and please, do not tell me he should have to kill his fellow actor to be true. Let’s not compare pears and apples 😉
Sam6969
*psychopaths are more common than what we usually think
djmcgamester
Acting is acting. I love “God’s Own County”, I have no idea of the sexuality of either of the lead actors. If I found out they were straight it would not at all take away from the moving story. (Incidentally, the actors do kiss, and it’s quite sensual. It’s the kind of kiss you would want to receive from someone with whom you’re deeply in love.)
And what about “Call Me By Your Name”? Isn’t Armie Hammer straight? Is anyone calling out Armie Hammer for playing gay? Don’t know anything about the younger one (I never saw the movie) but if it turned out he was straight would you complain about that? I’m guessing not.
I don’t need to know the sexuality of the actors. I don’t need to know anything about them because I’d rather not read all the drama and gossip attached to high-profile actors. I’m watching a film or TV show for the story and the acting. That’s all that matters.
Donston
I really don’t care who plays what. The real issue here is that almost every gay/homo-leaning actor who has come out has said that they were told by multiple industry people to stay closeted, that openly gay actors (particularly males) are not about to headline anyone’s Hollywood movie any time soon (even the lower budget ones), that openly gay actors are quickly relegated to c-list status (Luke Evans can barely find work on middling basic cable shows after being touted the next big movie star just a few years ago), that openly gay actors aren’t even being auditioned for any of these high-profile gay roles, etc. Hollywood has systematic homophobia, internalized homophobia, gay shame and hetero worship that has persisted for decades and still continues. That’s the issue here, not the identity and lifestyles of the performers.
jasentylar
Idris is right. The best actor should get the role. Colton Haynes works about as much as he did before he came out. The same can be said for Ellen Page. No one is hindering them. Eric McCormack is hetero, but I could not imagine anyone else playing Will Truman. Ian Mckellen as Gandalf. Casted not because he is openly gay, but because he is a damn fine actor. The best actor for the job.
aWildeman
No surprise that Idris said this. He used to admit that his first break before he hit the BIG time, was playing a gay man in a play called Battieman Blues in London in 1987. There was even nudity!
Prax07
Blah Blah…gay actors should be given preference to play gay roles. Same goes for other role specifics.
jjose712
I think Idris is totally correct, but Hollywood won’t receive any pressure if they cast a gay actor for a prominent gay role from time to time because right now being gay seems to automatically eliminate you from getting gay prominent roles on Hollywood
popkorn
I don’t understand why people is upset with what Idris said. Just remember that Ezra Miller will be the next Flash of Hollywood, and he is openly gay. The true story here, is that Ezra is an amazing actor, and that is why he deserved the role, not because he is gay.
Birdbrain1963
Bond was from Scotland in the book. the movies are based on that. Not a woman, or a black man. Gay men and women are portrayed by straight actors and most of the time not convincingly. Tired of everyone’s advice.