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Darren Criss Will No Longer Play Gay Roles

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Darren Criss is making a change to his acting portfolio.

The Emmy-winning actor is perhaps best known for playing gay characters, including Blaine Anderson in Glee, Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace and the titular role of Hedwig in the Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

But as a straight man, he says he no longer wants to take potential roles away from actors who actually identify as gay.

“There are certain [queer] roles that I’ll see that are just wonderful,” Criss told Bustle. “But I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.”

Although Criss, 31, said playing those roles has “been a real joy,” he doesn’t feel comfortable doing it anymore, which he says is “unfortunate.”

“The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience,” he said. “It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people.”

https://people.com/tv/darren-criss-will-no-longer-play-gay-characters/

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What stupidity.

Sexuality doesn’t translate to screen. A straight actor can play a gay person just as a gay person can play a straight person. The role in the movie is not dependent on the actor also being that sexuality. You want equality? Let ANY sexuality play ANY other sexuality. They’re not telling their life story. They’re recreating a fictional story.

What does translate to screen is race. You can’t substitute a black role for a white role if the movie calls for a black role narratively. But if a movie calls for a gay role, narratively it’s fine to use any actor. 

Give gay actors straight roles or gay roles. Give straight actors straight roles or gay roles. THAT’s equality.

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2 hours ago, Umbreon said:

What stupidity.

Sexuality doesn’t translate to screen. A straight actor can play a gay person just as a gay person can play a straight person. The role in the movie is not dependent on the actor also being that sexuality. You want equality? Let ANY sexuality play ANY other sexuality. They’re not telling their life story. They’re recreating a fictional story.

What does translate to screen is race. You can’t substitute a black role for a white role if the movie calls for a black role narratively. But if a movie calls for a gay role, narratively it’s fine to use any actor. 

Give gay actors straight roles or gay roles. Give straight actors straight roles or gay roles. THAT’s equality.

undefined

but wouldnt it be more liek equality when actual LGBT+ people are appearing in roles themselves rather than straight people acting the role

 

 

 

also straight? brit14 

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Eh, I can understand what he's saying to an extent, and the general thinking behind it, but overall I don't agree. If someone's written a character and their first consideration for casting is "they have to be the same sexuality in real life as this character I've written", I doubt they've written a particularly interesting or three dimensional character. I mean, really, if you asked me to list things about my personality or interests with the intention of fleshing myself out specifically, I have no idea how long I'd have to talk about myself before I got to my sexuality. Although there could be exceptions to this kinda thing, like if it really is a movie/show that truly centers around the sexualities of its character(s), there could be value in casting who really gets it, but usually I'd stick to that the real life sexual preferences of actors/actresses shouldn't be paramount. 

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18 hours ago, Umbreon said:

What stupidity.

Sexuality doesn’t translate to screen. A straight actor can play a gay person just as a gay person can play a straight person. The role in the movie is not dependent on the actor also being that sexuality. You want equality? Let ANY sexuality play ANY other sexuality. They’re not telling their life story. They’re recreating a fictional story.

What does translate to screen is race. You can’t substitute a black role for a white role if the movie calls for a black role narratively. But if a movie calls for a gay role, narratively it’s fine to use any actor. 

Give gay actors straight roles or gay roles. Give straight actors straight roles or gay roles. THAT’s equality.

undefined

It's about LGBT+ people being able to represent themselves on screen. LGBT+ actors should be picked for LGBT+ roles, unless they're not available, then give the role to someone else. It's kind of rich when you think that the biggest LGBT+ films in recent times all had heterosexual leading roles (Call Me By Your Name, Love, Simon) when those roles would've been HUGE opportunities for LGBT+ actors, plus it would've made more sense to cast an LGBT+ actor in Love, Simon since it was the first major motion picture to feature a same-sex couple in the main roles, and in general the film promoted acceptance to movie goers.

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1 hour ago, Miss Show Business said:

It's about LGBT+ people being able to represent themselves on screen. LGBT+ actors should be picked for LGBT+ roles, unless they're not available, then give the role to someone else. It's kind of rich when you think that the biggest LGBT+ films in recent times all had heterosexual leading roles (Call Me By Your Name, Love, Simon) when those roles would've been HUGE opportunities for LGBT+ actors, plus it would've made more sense to cast an LGBT+ actor in Love, Simon since it was the first major motion picture to feature a same-sex couple in the main roles, and in general the film promoted acceptance to movie goers.

THE LGBT ACTORS ARENT REPRESENTING THEMSELVES ON SCREEN, THEYRE REPRESENTING A FICTIONAL CHARACTER THAT ALSO HAPPENS TO BE GAY. Jesus fucking Christ. Last I checked, Harrison Ford didn’t actually meet the criteria of alien bounty hunting history to represent his space hunter on screen. It’s uh, wait for it... ACT-ING. ny12 

Fun fact: Blue’s actor in Love, Simon is bisexual and in a relationship with another man. So... yes, they did cast LGBT actors. ari2 

Neil Patrick Harris is always taking straight roles. So is Matt Bohmer. So is Ian McKellen. So is Zachary Quinto. And you know what? That’s okay they’re taking straight roles just as it’s okay for straight guys to take gay roles sometimes. That’s EQUALITY. nat2 

Hollywood is like the biggest gay-filled industry in the world and has the best opportunities for LGBT+. So we should be fighting issues that actually matter. ari4

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6 hours ago, Umbreon said:

THE LGBT ACTORS ARENT REPRESENTING THEMSELVES ON SCREEN, THEYRE REPRESENTING A FICTIONAL CHARACTER THAT ALSO HAPPENS TO BE GAY. Jesus fucking Christ. Last I checked, Harrison Ford didn’t actually meet the criteria of alien bounty hunting history to represent his space hunter on screen. It’s uh, wait for it... ACT-ING. ny12 

Fun fact: Blue’s actor in Love, Simon is bisexual and in a relationship with another man. So... yes, they did cast LGBT actors. ari2 

Neil Patrick Harris is always taking straight roles. So is Matt Bohmer. So is Ian McKellen. So is Zachary Quinto. And you know what? That’s okay they’re taking straight roles just as it’s okay for straight guys to take gay roles sometimes. That’s EQUALITY.

nat2

Hollywood is like the biggest gay-filled industry in the world and has the best opportunities for LGBT+. So we should be fighting issues that actually matter. 

ari4

Sis it's really not that deep jj3

We agree that white actors shouldn't play POC roles. There are plenty of reasons for this. White actors don't have the lived experience of POC to understand the complexity of such a role. A white person playing a POC role takes that role away from a qualified POC actor (like Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell). Casting POC actors in the appropriate roles is important for representation in a Hollywood where roles for POC are still scarce. Now take that and change "white" and "POC" to LGBT and straight. Why doesn't the same concept apply? It's kind of hypocritical / and contradictory. You don't fully apply the same logic to both scenarios. Maybe gay actors don't want to always play straight roles? The best acting performances often come from roles the actor greatly understands / identifies with. "Hollywood is like the biggest gay-filled industry in the world and has the best opportunities for LGBT+." Sis there literally wasn't a film backed by a major studio depicting a same-sex romance until Love, Simon. Moonlight and CMBYN are like the second and third films to get Oscar nominations. Openly LGBT people haven't collected Oscars for acting. There is still a long way to go. Acting is acting, there are probably going to be straight actors playing gay roles and vice versa, but the point is there are probably alot of LGBT actors tired of playing straight characters and want the chance to play an LGBT role, to play a role they identify with, and a role that will give them the chance to shine as themselves. Look at Chris Colfer in his Glee role. He shined in that role, and him being LGBT in real life made all the difference to those watching. Gay people could actually watch themselves on screen and then watch him win a Golden Globe as an openly gay man. Think about the impact that has on young gay people. We have to remember that not so long ago, being out ruined careers. When Ellen came out, she lost her sitcom and probably other opportunities. She didn't fully recover probably until her talk show. Actors have been in the closet to protect their careers and image for so long now. I can imagine how irritating it is to be an LGBT actor who has been in the closet for most of their careers, then to watch straight actors play openly LGBT roles, which is something they felt they couldn't be for so long. I recall having this discussion with you before, so let's just agree to disagree if you can't see my side of it. I understand what you're saying, I just believe it goes further than "it's acting". I know as an LGBT person myself, if I were an actor, I would love having LGBT roles to play.

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dumbest thing i ever heard ew2 i thought actors are supposed to act not necessarily be someone who they are playing.

seriously SJW need to be erased from surface of earth cos they are ruining everything trash1

 

acting job should be taken only according to skills not gender, orientation, race or anything else that doesnt affect the role itself

 

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On 12/22/2018 at 3:11 AM, Chris Morlock said:

but wouldnt it be more liek equality when actual LGBT+ people are appearing in roles themselves rather than straight people acting the role

 

 

 

also straight? brit14 

lets put neil patric harris in jail then. how dare he play straight womanizer when he himself is a cocksucker shock1 what he knows about pussy anyway um2

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2 hours ago, Unapologetic Bitch said:

lets put neil patric harris in jail then. how dare he play straight womanizer when he himself is a cocksucker shock1 what he knows about pussy anyway um2

Are you putting words in my mouth? Um2 

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Acting has nothing to do with sexuality, a person doesn't need to be gay to play a gay role, that would be stupid. It's called acting for a reason, it's not a real story and nobody should care whether a gay person is playing a straight character or vice-versa. um2

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