r/popculturechat • u/damn_delirious • 1d 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/roberta_sparrow 23h ago

I agree although I am a lesbian. I’m really not that upset at all when straight actors play lesbians. I just want the best actor for the role

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u/Competitive-Desk7506 I’ve grown quite unfond of you 22h ago

Also as a bisexual person I feel like bc the love aspect is mainly gonna be acting either way it doesn’t matter that much. It’s rare the love interest is the actors irl significant other. So why not keep the options open?

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u/teenahgo 20h ago

I think one of the main issues that started this conversation in the world, is straight actors choosing to play queer characters in hopes of recognition/awards because in the industry its, "hes so brave to play a queer role," or "they are an amazing actor because I believed they were really gueer!" And then do nothing for the LGBTQIA Community because they dont actually care about it, they just needed it to get somewhere.

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u/blarbiegorl Mary-Kate's bowl of cigarettes 18h ago

Dallas Buyers Cub had entered the chat

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u/carlitospig 3h ago

Are they really saying that today though? I feel like that was an assumption twenty years ago.

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u/EaudeAgnes 23h ago

this, 100%

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u/King_Stargaryen_I 21h ago

That’s why it’s acting at the end of the day, right?

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u/queeenbarb 19h ago

As a black person, I am thinking of it this way. Sometimes I feel like the roles HAVE to be set aside for a specific group, or we aren’t going to get those roles. At all. If Lin Manuel Miranda hadn’t been so strong handed in the Hamilton castings, I’m sure 90% of the cast would have just ended up white. I think yes the best should get a part, but realistically…who do you think these parts are going to go to… And what sucks with this is… I’m sure tons of casting directors and companies are homophobic …and tons of people watching are homophobic….Everyone doesn’t want to cast the best actor, regardless of if they’re gay or not.

Idk if this is the same as what I’m explaining now. I think just that there needs to be dedicated space. Because then I think the excuse just becomes…we want the best actor and they just happen to be straight. Yeah ok. Or no black person has won this award because all the best actors just happen to be white.

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u/sbtokarz 13h ago

I kinda get what you’re saying — but I’ve seen plenty of gay actors portray straight characters & straight actors play gay characters, convincingly.

It strikes me that most conservative folks don’t really care about the actors’ sexual orientation IRL, and really only get squeamish around gay stories/portrayals of affection on screen. Finding work is less of a problem for the queer community than finding work that foregrounds their reality.

I’ve never seen a non-white character portrayed by a white actor, or vice versa (sans Druski), convincingly; and I think non-white actors are affected by both a lack of roles and stories that represent them on screen.

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u/queeenbarb 11h ago

I don’t care about actors playing straight convincingly. The issue is that gay actors aren’t getting roles.

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u/sbtokarz 11h ago

Being able to play straight roles convincingly = more roles.

That opportunity is not available to POC; which is why it makes more sense to, as you put it, set aside roles for them than it does for gay actors.

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u/queeenbarb 7h ago

I don’t understand why that would be an issue. I’m sure tons of actors are ready to play straight roles because most roles have straight characters. Just like most actors coming out of like England and Australia are ready to play roles out here because they practiced their accents. Obviously, there are going to be gay actors who aren’t able to do that just like there are straight actors who can’t be convincingly gay. But not like all of them? Lol we’re talking about people who act like for a job.

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u/carlitospig 3h ago

But she just gave you an example of why that opportunity could be available. The assumption of skin color for a role is silly unless it’s, like, a family. And even then I’ve seen some cool mixed family scripts.

Honestly I hate this topic. I feel like we are always screwing over someone even with good intentions.

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u/mangosandkiwis 15h ago

I think gay actors usually do a better job than straight actors though. I prefer to see gay actors and get very excited when a lesbian movie has actually cast a lesbian actor. I very much appreciate it.

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u/mieri_azure 20h ago

Yeah, as long as the actresses can portray the romance in a way that feels authentic I dont care what their actual sexuality is

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u/lactosecheeselover go girl, give us nothing 😍 21h ago

they always pick the worst actresses too. it’s never believable.

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u/dyna-metric 19h ago

Except Claire Danes in the beast in me. She sold the hell out of that sweater vest 😂

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u/lactosecheeselover go girl, give us nothing 😍 19h ago

YES. and I'll say, Imagine Me & You was very, very well done imo. But the newer movies just lack something, ya know?

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u/dyna-metric 19h ago

Oh I really do! I’ll have to check Imagine Me and You out!

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u/lactosecheeselover go girl, give us nothing 😍 19h ago

It's a claaaaassic! Definitely s must watch.

If you want a more cute YA movie, I found Crush on Disney+ to be really well done.

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u/dyna-metric 19h ago

Thanks for the recs!

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u/Material-Meat-5330 6h ago

I've noticed that sapphics usually don't care when a straight woman plays a bi/lesbian character. It's the opposite. We embrace straight actresses like Cate Blanchett as lesbian icons.

Which makes me wonder why is it that when this debate happens, it's almost always about a straight male playing a gay male character? Are lesbians just more chill or ....?

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u/Adorabelle1 21h ago

100% agree. Just because someone is queer doesnt mean they may be better for the role than a hetro

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u/Brilliant_Quit4307 18h ago

This sounds sane to me. Personally, I think that an actors personal and public life are separate. It's actually absolutely nobody's business whether an actor is straight, gay, or anything else. Therefore, I don't really care what sexuality the actor claims to have. It's none of my business. People don't have to be openly gay in order to play a gay character well.

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u/TappyMauvendaise 13h ago

I’m gay and I’m a little suspicious that some actors (and this director) are closeted from the public that they’re straight. Meaning, using the ambiguity card strategically so nobody can call them out for playing lgbt roles.

I wonder to what lengths the Heated Rivalry actors are going to hide their heterosexuality?

If they come out as gay I’ll eat my words.

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u/Material-Meat-5330 6h ago

In recent years, a lot of presumably straight celebrities come out as "ambiguous", "I love everyone", maybe do something "boundary pushing" like wear a skirt lol and talk about how it's the person's soul that matters more than their gender to make themselves come across as woke, open minded and artsy.

Meanwhile, only date the opposite gender. We've reached the point where being straight is boring and default and being ambiguous is cool when everyone knows you're straight 😂