No Time To Die star Ben Whishaw has weighed in on the ongoing conversation regarding authentic LGBTQ+ casting.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the openly gay actor shared his two cents on the controversial subject.
When asked about The Danish Girl and Eddie Redmayne’s portrayal of Lili Elbe, the British actor said he did a “beautiful job”.
“Going forward, there will be other films in which the role is given to someone who lived that experience. Why shouldn’t a role like that be given to someone who knows, inside, what the character is? I’m all for that,” he said.
But while some straight actors demonstrate great portrayals of queer characters, Whishaw revealed that there are others who aren’t as believable.
“I feel the same, sometimes, about straight actors playing gay parts. I’m critical if I don’t think the performance is, from my subjective experience, accurate,” he continued.
“I might think, ‘I don’t believe you!’ And even a small moment of hesitation or inauthenticity will block my engagement with the whole story. So I understand these questions.”
Later in the interview, Whishaw also expressed that there can be “different points of view” when it comes to the polarising topic.
“I just feel that we can end up arguing over these black-and-white things and get extremely polarised over these questions when I don’t think it needs to be that way,” he explained.
“Have a discussion! There can be disagreement! There can be different points of view! I love contradictory things. Ambiguity.”
He ended his statement by saying he’s on the “side of listening to each other” and “forgiving each other”.
“And if we look, if anyone takes a moment to look inside themselves about how they’re thinking or feeling on a subject, they’ll immediately see all manner of things that are not consistent,” he said.
“So I’m on the side of listening to each other. And I’m on the side of forgiving each other. We have to believe in listening and forgiveness.”
This isn’t the first time the 41-year-old talent has opened up about LGBTQ+ casting in films.
In a 2019 interview with The Independent, Whishaw was asked if he agreed with Darren Criss no longer playing queer characters as a way to not take roles from the LGBTQ+ actors.
“No. I don’t think that should happen because I really believe that actors can embody and portray anything and we shouldn’t be defined only by what we are,” he said.
“I think there was a time when we didn’t know anything about actors, they were very mysterious. But now we know everything… So no, I don’t think that. On the other hand, I think there needs to be greater equality.”
He then said he would like to see more gay actors being cast in straight roles so it could be an “even playing field for everyone”.
“I don’t know how far we’re away from that [but] that’s where we should be aiming,” he said.
Whishaw joins an array of actors and industry professionals who have recently opened up about the ongoing topic.
Last year, director Aaron Sorkin told the Sunday Times Culture magazine that casting gay actors in queer roles was an “empty gesture.”
“Nouns aren’t actable. Gay and straight aren’t actable. You can act being attracted to someone, but can’t act gay or straight,” he said.
“So this notion that only gay actors should play gay characters? That only a Cuban actor should play Desi? Honestly, I think it’s the mother of all empty gestures and a bad idea.”
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