“It’s a tricky situation because when you see all of these movies, which historically, the gay roles have gone to the straight actors, there is something in nuances and tiny little things that straight actors don’t quite get right. It’s great to have gay actors play these gay roles because you see certain things are realistic, but having said that, I don’t agree that only gay actors should play gay. We do what we do because we love experiencing other people’s stories and lives and what would be of the Meryl Streeps of the world if we all had to do the thing that we are. Actors like playing, and playing is inhabiting another human being. I don’t agree with having to laser focus the casting of it all, or else you’ll be playing yourself the rest of your life.”—Dashing in December star Juan Pablo Di Pace, on why directors should not have to cast gay actors as gay characters. Di Pace & his co-star, Peter Porte, told ET Canada that the purpose of acting is to be someone or something else, and that the ultimate goal is to have any actor play any role.
In Quotes
Juan Pablo Di Pace doesn’t just want to play gay characters. He wants to be Meryl Streep.
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jjose712
The headline is ridiculous and has nothing to do with what he says.
And he is totally right acting is pretending to be someone you are not, the actors need those challenges to play different characters.
Saying that i hope HW start to cast more gay actors on prominent gay roles
Cam
I get it, Queerty seems to have an agenda against LGBTQ actors getting to play queer roles over straights.
Here is the problem with that. Hollywood screens out Queer actors, so they can’t get big enough to be considered for big parts due to bigotry.
Claiming that if queer actors are given queer parts they can never play straight parts is false. LGBTQ people know how to play heterosexual people probably better than straight people do, because for many growing up, they had to, to avoid being attacked.
Hollywood puts out maybe one or two queer themed movies ever 5 years. Please spare me the lamentations over all the straight actors that will be out of work if one or two roles every 5 years don’t go to them.
Donston
I don’t see how playing “gay” equates to only playing yourself. That’s pretty much suggesting that you see “gays” and the “gay experience” as rather one-note and one dimensional. Or you’re pretty much admitting that Hollywood is still really basic when it comes to writing “queer”.
Honestly, I’m rather over this topic. Almost all these actors who talk about it misses a couple of key points, no matter their perspective.
ShiningSex
WHO???
boblrice
OMG, do you say this about everyone they discuss on here? We get it, he’s not recognizable to you.
And yet, you spent the time to read the article AND comment on it.
randeman
And it would have been just as easy to Google the guy as it was to type “Who?” Oy. /rolleyes.
skeldare
Obviously gay characters shouldn’t just be played by gay actors. The problem is that many gay actors are often overlooked for playing ANY roles.
Osterfool
That’s the root of the problem. Hollywood itself needs to change and do away with blacklisting of actors whether it’s gay actors or people who refused to sleep with a sleazy producer or studio head. I don’t see it happening but people in the industry who have some sway (big directors, hollywood royalty etc) should band together to make change. Maybe develop some industry codes of practice. Otherwise another Weinstein will end up ruining lives.
Kangol2
On a different note–and I’m not targeting him, to be clear, and this doesn’t just apply to his quote–but you do not need an apostrophe to make a plural in English. English plurals are among the simplest in the world. All you have to do is add -s or -es, except in rare cases (very old English words with Germanic roots, like child/children, ox/oxen, etc. or invariant ones, like fish, deer, etc., which you now can still make plural with an -s or -es, so deer/deers, fish/fishes, etc.). So, “Meryl Streeps of the world,” not “Meryl Streep’s,” which means something belongs to Meryl Streep. Why so many people add that apostrophe is beyond me, but it just keeps cropping up more and more.
inbama
It’s a disease caught from the internet – like the “singular they.”
Osterfool
Apostrophe’s are they’re to stay (see what I did their?)
To be honest; I’ve given up pulling people up on spelling/grammar. Where fighting a loosing battle.
The above was mentally painful to write. But in all honesty I think people are either dumb or lazy these days. My supervisor sends out business emails (in an office to the entire team) with so many errors you can’t actually decipher what she’s trying to say.
hansniemeijer
I think there is a difference by playing a gay person OR being one. Like playing an inmate OR being an inmate. Playing having an abortion OR having an abortion. No matter how empathic you are
lord.krath
Well said and I couldn’t agree more. It’s called ACTING.