What's your view on Jack Whitehall playing a gay character?

[LyndorCake]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/13/jack-whitehall-role-gay-disney-character-row-jungle-cruise

People have gone wild on twitter about it.
One argument says that as he is straight, he can't understand the role properly and is taking roles always from LGBTQ+ actors. The other side of that is he's an actor and therefore he is always pretending to be someone he isn't in any role, how is this different?

I can sort of see both sides but curious as to what you think?

Jack Whitehall is straight??

It's ridiculous, should gay men only be limited to playing gay characters then?

Whoever is best for the role, I say.

Oh god, I hate all this shit. What about all the gay actors playing straight roles? Why is everyone offended by everything these days?

This issue is, that the logical conclusion of only allowing gay actors to play gay characters, is that only straight actors should be able to play straight characters.

So, for example, Jim Parsons (gay) would not be able to play Sheldon Cooper (straight).

That would hugely limit the number of roles available to gay actors.

I think the role should have been advertised and if a gay actor was broadly as good as him in audition they should have got it. If no good gay actor auditioned then he can act it.

As he is an actor of very little range (and appeal), imo, it is a mistake to cast him at all. I also agree with the principle that there are precious few minority roles out there so the first choice should be to give them to people of that identity.

Isn’t the point of acting that you aren’t yourself?

Nobody blew up when Mark Bonnar played a gay man in the second series of Unforgotten. Nobody blew up when Anna Friel and Nicola Stephenson played lesbians in Brookside. (Well they did, but not because the actresses weren’t lesbians).

I’m assuming then that the argument goes both ways and gay actors should never play straight characters? Ridiculous. Whoever is best for the job.

As far as I understand it, acting is pretending to be someone who isn’t you.

I think Jack Whitehall should be prevented from playing any role, I cant stand him :-D

as to playing a gay character, I couldnt care less, its acting, they are ALL pretending.....

Of COURSE it's OK. He's an actor. It's ridiculous that only gay actors should play gay people.

If it was suggested that only hetero people should play hetero people, there would be a massive outcry about how homophobic it is!

If an actor can act and is the best person for the role then it shouldn't matter who they choose to share their bed with!

How is a gay actor any different from a heterosexual actor? Does everyone have to declare their orientation now, or is it only gay people?

People like to get outraged.

It becomes boring after a while & I just ignore everything these people bang on about.

I don't agree at all with their argument. Actors are constantly pretending to be someone else so that logic doesn't work. I do think this has gone way over the top now.

There would be many reasons why he has been chosen, these could include that he was the best person for the part, they need someone well known to pull in viewers, he has a specific look or voice they are looking for. There are lots of actors who get parts because of who they are, due to the money it costs to make a film it is often essential and understandable IMO.

Ridiculous

The issue is that there are far fewer representations of gay people in film and TV, and gay men are much less likely to be cast in roles generally than straight men, so it takes away from gay men even more to give gay roles to straight men. Ideally gay men should be freely cast in the roles they are suitable for regardless of their own sexuality, but they aren’t. So in the meantime, the least we can do is not give gay roles to straight men.

I wish people got as up in arms about gay men not being cast for straight roles as they do about situations like this.

I agree with the others re gay people playing straight parts, there would be outrage if that was banned wouldn't there.

Ridiculous. How many roles would Daniel Day Lewis not have got, had these "rules" been followed?

If no good gay actor auditioned then he can act it

Now try that for any other job.

People should get given the job for their suitability & their skills. Positive discrimination is still discrimination.

I'm more concerned that the character he is playing apprently conforms to all the cliched gay man stereotypes. Really what is the point of that ?

I can't get worked up about this.

I've yet to see one high profile gay actor speak out about it- if the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Luke Evans or Sir Ian McKellan come out and give a good explanation why there should be a sexuality clause when it comes to castings going forward then I'll listen, but I'd also expect them to only play gay characters in future.

I don’t see the problem in a straight actor playing a gay character.

However, a ‘source’ from the article above has said “he is playing a gay man – one who is hugely effete, very camp and very funny”.

Disney has form for stereotyping, and that would be my concern here.

YANBU Sir Ian McKellen should never have landed the role of Magneto in the X-Men franchise as not only is he gay, but he's not even a mutant.