Ben Whishaw opens up about straight actors playing gay characters: “I understand the questions”
nme.comThe Guardian, Whishaw said he “[understood] the questions” surrounding straight actors playing gay characters, adding that “discussion” and “listening to each other” about the issues was important rather than disagreement.“I think Eddie did a beautiful job,” he said of Eddie Redmayne’s performance in The Danish Girl as trans pioneer Lili Elbe.
Whishaw had a supporting role in the film.He continued: “And it’s done. 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.“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. 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.
