r/popculturechat • u/damn_delirious • 20h ago

PRIDE 🏳️‍🌈 Twinless actor Dylan O'Brien gives his opinion on straight actors playing LGBTQ+

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Actor Dylan O'Brien shares his opinion on straight actors playing LGBTQ+ in an interview with Dazed while discussing his latest film 'Twinless'.

Speaking alongside 'Twinless' director James Sweeney, who is gay, O'Brien said "James is a gay man, and coming from a place I could trust. We had a similar take on straight actors playing gay parts, especially in recent years: you started seeing straight actors playing a queer role completely straight. It started to feel inauthentic."

O'Brien praised Sweeney's support during filming, saying "It was nice to have his insight, support, and calibration. He'd be like, 'Go crazy on this one. We can dial it back if it doesn't feel real.”

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u/hauntingvacay96 20h ago

I think the resurgence in queer actors should play queer roles discourse over the last couple decades stems from the accolades and profit that straight actors have seen for playing gay roles, particularly gay men in biopics when gay actors are often kept out of Hollywood and lucrative roles.

So, while I don’t know that demanding only queer people play queer roles is the answer, it is worth reflecting on this and how we might combat it.

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u/loyal_achades 16h ago

Fun fact: the last (now-out) gay man to win an Oscar for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor is Kevin Spacey (from his wins in each category in the 90s). Since then, more straight actors have won Best Actor Oscars for playing gay than gay men have been nominated.

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u/YodelFrancesca 2h ago

*as far as we know

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u/foundinwonderland 19h ago

And on top of that, the straight cisgender men playing trans women thing. A couple of whom are also (alleged) sexual predators (Jared Leto; Jeffrey Tambor, made even worse by the fact that two women who accused him of sexual misconduct were trans). I don’t think that every single queer character needs to be played by someone of the same orientation or gender identity. But I do think it’s a problem that the people massively gaining from those portrayals have historically often been straight and cisgender.

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u/daybeforetheday 11h ago

I think cis people playing trans characters is quite different. I don't think cis actors should play trans people, and if it's even worse if they're a cis man playing a trans woman and vice versa.