AIBU to be completely on the fence? Straight men playing 'gay' roles

[Wheresmykimchi]

Article here - www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/corrie-star-hits-back-after-19618647

Russell T Davies has decided to cast only gay men in roles for an AIDS drama.

Peter Ash , who is a straight man playing a gay man in Coronation Street , disagrees.

I'm usually a dog with a bone , irritating poster on topics I feel passionately about and LGBT is one but on this I just can't decide.

I can see Russell's point given the nature of the drama , and I'm never sure I agree with people playing 'gay' , in theory

But then I look at the gay characters in soaps in recent years , Peter's character being am excellent example along with Aaron Lindsay in Emmerdale , Kate Connor and Sophie Webster in Coronation Street , and see Peters point that the whole idea is that there is no such thing as acting 'gay', they are playing people.

I'm so on the fence I've got splinters. AIBU?

Russell Tovey is a good example. He played a straight man in Him & Her (and was brilliant) and he played a gay man in Years & Years. He is gay, does that mean that he shouldn't have played the role in Him & Her?

I understand about able bodied actors being cast as disabled characters (although I still think there are complications that make this sometimes necessary) because you couldn't generally reverse the situation, whereas Tovey played both roles.

@SleepingStandingUp

They are not straight anyway, even acting kissing is still kissing, if they were truly straight they wouldn't do it - so it's a non-issue!

What a ridiculous statement. Most actors would have a kissing scene with someone who is not their real partner
@SnowflakeCulture does this count as cheating then?

Of course it doesn’t.

Article in The Spectator this week on same, which came first I wonder. That article questions in similar vein if straight roles should therefore only be played by straight actors....

How would you tell audition etc etc

Bonkers. The very notion of acting is playing a character.

Adira isn't trill? She is human. Grey was trill I thought and she was the nearest person when they died so got the symbiotic

Also she was referred to as she /her for most of the first episodes she was in and then later said she wanted to be they as that is how they felt now

Yes my post stated they were human. My point was that upon receiving a symbiote a new Trill host doesn't become someone else or change sexual preference or 'identity' so why would Adira.
Adira told Paul they had never been comfortable being referred to as female. Nothing to do with getting grey's symbiote.

It just felt like they did it just because the actor calls themself non binary in real life.

My nephew is an actor and is gay. He presents as straight. So, short of propositioning RTF, how is he meant to prove it in an audition?

I think because it's about a particular story of Something adversely affecting a minority group.

That isn't what RTD says. He doesn't want to cast any straight people as gay anymore because it's 'inauthentic'.

There are lots of personal or political reasons why people might feel only employing a particular group was valid. If we decide that's generally OK and alter the law to accommodate it I don't think the outcomes will be good.

@Snoozysnoozy

Simple solution, any actor that wishes to play a gay character must be dry bummed during the audition.

In the mean time can we discuss how neither Remi Malik or Tom Hanks actually contracted aids prior to playing characters that did?

I also notice Chris Hemsworth isn't actually Asgardian... I could go on our I could point out that acting is where you pretend to be someone that you aren't.

We could do without the homophobic vulgar phrasing thanks.

Vulgar? Certainly
Homophobic? No it wasn't.

“Acting”’is not just turning up, putting on a costume and saying the words. There are conversations and discussions about characters. It is a collaborative process.

You might have an actor who read a monologue beautifully in the audition but when it comes to rehearsal and they don’t understand a part of their character’s lived experience it could slow things down. They can research, discuss and obviously act, but having a shared experience with your character is going to help. That applies to fantasy as well, but you might have to dig a little deeper. By the time you’re as accomplished as Sir Ian McKellan maybe you can just learn the lines and say them

People asking how would you know an actor’s sexuality from an audition? Maybe in this audition there is a scene where a character is subject to a homophobic attack. You could ask something along the lines of “Have you ever experienced anything like that?” There’s no obligation to answer.

An audition isn’t just come in, perform your Hamlet soliloquy and “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

No one has responded to my question about whether we’re happy with men taking roles away from women, if it’s only “acting.”

@CalishataFolkart I would say you have a fair point if you’re talking about a theatre audition but auditions for tv, which most people seem to be talking about, are nearly all done via self-tape sent to the casting directors, even before covid. No one’s asking you if you’ve experienced anything, usually, they’re just watching your tape. Collaboration tends to be either in theatre or if you’re playing the main character on tv.

And no, I’m very much not in favour of men taking women’s roles.

Straight actors can play gay parts, and vice versa.

Surely only allowing/employing gay people to audition is discrimination under the Equality Act?

I do have some issue with the fact that part of acting is ummmm well acting. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes, playing with the 'magic if'...and there are different styles of theatre where cross-casting is part of the tradition of the style...most actors want to be stretched by playing someone with experiences different to them.

I also don't think sexuality is something which should define whether a person gets a part or not..it seems a retrograde step to me.

Is it any different to back in the days ALW did his shows and kicked out people based on accents , looks , being too polished, too rough....

I don't see why a straight man can't play a gay man or vice versa. Surely that's the whole point of acting. Actors and actresses don't necessarily play someone who is the same as them.

To be fair equating a straight man to a gay man isn't equatable to men playing women and races playing each other.

@SnowflakeCulture does this count as cheating then?

@VinylDetective Of course it doesn’t

So how does a straight across kissing a man in this accruing role make him bit straight?

I think because it's about a particular story of Something adversely affecting a minority group.

That isn't what RTD says. He doesn't want to cast any straight people as gay anymore because it's 'inauthentic'.

@donquixotedelamancha well I was giving, quite clearly, my opinion

There are a lot of comments about the lack of gay actors playing/having played straight roles in soaps. Dean Sullivan played Jimmy Corkhill in Brookside for years and and Roy Barraclough played Alec Gilroy in Corrie, both gay men playing straight roles.

@Wheresmykimchi

To be fair equating a straight man to a gay man isn't equatable to men playing women and races playing each other.

I do agree. The reason I brought it up was in response to the attitude of some posters of “erm, it’s called ACTING” and that representation of oppressed groups by oppressed groups isn’t important. If it’s just “acting” why does it matter if a man plays a female part?

It’s a blunt instrument but what I’m trying to say is “it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

I’m also not sure which side of the fence I fall on because I don’t think it’s a binary answer.

[quote Bilingualspingual]@CalishataFolkart I would say you have a fair point if you’re talking about a theatre audition but auditions for tv, which most people seem to be talking about, are nearly all done via self-tape sent to the casting directors, even before covid. No one’s asking you if you’ve experienced anything, usually, they’re just watching your tape. Collaboration tends to be either in theatre or if you’re playing the main character on tv.[/quote]
My experience is theatre rather than TV so I’m sure you’re correct (although self-tapes are becoming more prevalent in theatre as well). I know the role of director is different in both media as well.

However, aren’t there more steps between self-tape and read through/first day on set? There must be a time when the chief creative and the cast have some sort of discussion?