Collin Firth: Gay Actors “Don’t Get Cast””
Oscar nominee Colin Firth has shared his thoughts on the casting conundrum gay actors face for good roles in the Hollywood machine.
Nominated for best actor for his elegant performance as a gay college professor mourning the loss of his partner in Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man, Firth says there’s a distinct disconnect for gay actors pursuing good roles.
“If you’re known as a straight guy, playing a gay role, you get rewarded for that,” the British actor says matter-of-factly. “If you’re a gay man and you want to play a straight role, you don’t get cast — and if a gay man wants to play a gay role now, you don’t get cast.
“I think it needs to be addressed, and I feel complicit in the problem,” he admits. “I don’t mean to be. I think we should all be allowed to play whoever — but I think there are still some invisible boundaries which are still uncrossable.” Firth, who also played a gay man in Mamma Mia! also addressed the fact that “There might be risks for a gay actor coming out. The politics of that are quite complex, it seems to me.”
Out actor Rupert Everett and gay director Todd Holland made headlines for similarly suggesting there were great career difficulties for openly gay actors.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.