Ben Platt, star of the hit Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen and Ryan Murphy’s The Politician, recently weighed in on a debate Hollywood can never seem to decide: Should queer characters only be played by queer actors?
Speaking to the British music publication NME in an interview released Friday, Platt said the conundrum does not have a “black and white answer,” but proceeded to lay out some cold hard facts about queer actors getting pigeonholed and overlooked.
“I feel like the attitude should be, wherever possible, especially if the story is really rooted in a queer background… we should be doing everything in our power to cast queer actors,” Platt told NME.
The actor was responding in part to controversial and conservation-sparking comments from Russell T. Davies, creator of the harrowing AIDS drama series It’s A Sin, who in a recent Radio Times interview compared casting straight actors in queer roles to attempting to “Black someone up” (see: blackface). Platt’s commentary, naturally, was more tempered and grounded, specifying that he “largely” agrees with Davies’ stance on queer actors in queer roles without stating that it should be the rule in every case.
Although it’s fantastic to see an increasing number of prominent LGBTQ+ actors and creators being asked to weigh in on this issue, it would be better to see the question of “Should straight actors play queer roles?” get posed more often to the actual gatekeepers of Hollywood. Performers may be the public face of productions, but they are rarely the decision makers. Studio heads, directors, casting agents, and other power players are the people who can really make things better for LGBTQ+ audiences and actors alike.
Platt, who at age 27, is already only an Oscar away from joining the hallowed EGOT club, rightly points out that the debate isn’t just about virtue-signaling and woke points for creators, but rather about the ability of LGBTQ+ actors to find work more broadly. “Because often, just in terms of judgement from creators and casting directors, we [queer performers] aren’t able to tell straight stories or play straight characters,” he argued. Not only are queer actors overlooked when it comes to casting queer roles, they’re overlooked when it comes to casting any role, period. The materiality of the issue — the fact that actors’ livelihoods are on the line — gets ignored when we try to turn it into an never-ending abstract discourse over who should play which parts.
Platt smartly points to the theater world as being more progressive in respects to providing opportunities to queer actors because “there’s less of a hang-up on what someone’s look and image is,” which is another valid argument. The boxing-in and typecasting that queer actors face after coming out — in an industry that is built on make-believe, let’s not forget — shows that Hollywood views queerness as a limitation, rather than as a rich well of emotional experiences that can be tapped into for a wide variety of roles. (This typecasting is probably something every high school theater gay can relate to. My middle school drama teacher once let me stand in for a lead-role, but never actually play it, because she needed “a guy with a deeper voice.”)
So far, this slow-burning debate has led at least one high-profile actor — Darren Criss, who played openly queer characters in Glee and The Assassination of Gianni Versace, winning a Golden Globe and Emmy for the latter — to publicly promise he’d never play gay again. “I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role,” the actor told Bustle year.
Recent projects with prominent LGBTQ+ characters have only added fire to debate, including Ryan Murphy’s new fashion bio-series Halston, which stars a publicly straight Ewan McGregor, and Ryan Murphy’s Prom (sense a theme here?), which stars a publicly straight James Corden.
But instead of asking McGregor or Corden — or even Platt, who will next appear as an openly gay character in the forthcoming comedy The People We Hate At The Wedding — to answer this question for the umpteenth time, it would be so refreshing to hear someone besides an actor weigh in. Let’s ask directors, producers, and creative heads to make meaningful commitments to cast LGBTQ+ actors in queer and straight roles alike. Until then, this debate will feel tiresome and devoid of tangible results.
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