straight actors / gay roles

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Sparkle

Do you think Gay/Bi/Trans actors should have first dibs on playing gay/bi/trans female roles?

What is your opinion on the culture of homophobia among Hollywood film makers? The encouraging of young actors to remain closeted for the sake of their careers?

I hesistate to say that I think LGBT actors should have first dibs on gay/trans roles. I think that actors should be given roles according to their ability, rather than their sexual orientation or gender identity. That said, I do think that certain roles would be better played by LGBT actors, especially in films that attempt to portray a specific experience or perspective. A straight or cisgender actor could only ever really "act" the role, while I think an LGBT actor might lend something of their own experience to the role.

To give an example, I think that the transgender roles in films like Soldier's Girl, Transamerica and Boys Don't Cry could have either benefited by bringing in a trans actor, or in the cases of true stories like BDC and SG would have been both symbolic of respect and groundbreaking (as far as starring trans actors, which is pretty rare). I do think the actor who played Calpernia did a great job, but I think a film retelling a tragedy like this is in a position to do even more than tell the story of Calpernia and Barry, but giving exposure to trans actors as well. I also think in the instance of Boys Don't Cry it may have helped in avoiding portraying Brandon as a lesbian (particularly in the end), which he was not. I know none of these are Hollywood films, but if this is still a problem in independant films then it's no wonder Hollywood continues to be much worse.

Anyways, I hope that Hollywood (and all filmmakers for that matter) change their views toward starring LGBT actors. But obviously the film industry is still very geared toward heterosexual cisgender people. People are still very narrow minded when it comes to portraying these roles in film, but hopefully the film industry will start to take on a bit more of an avantgarde approach (which I think would go a long way).