Beauty and The Beast star Luke Evans has weighed in on the controversial gay casting debate. Over the last few years, Hollywood has been embroiled in a debate regarding LGBTQ+ roles being portrayed by openly queer actors.
One of the biggest supporters of authentic casting has been It’s A Sin creator Russell T Davies who told Radio Times, “authenticity leads to joyous places.” “I’m not being woke about this… but I feel strongly that if I cast someone in a story, I am casting them to act as a lover, or an enemy, or someone on drugs or a criminal or a saint… they are not there to ‘act gay’ because ‘acting gay’ is a bunch of codes for a performance.
It’s about authenticity, the taste of 2020,” he said in a 2021 interview. “You wouldn’t cast someone able-bodied and put them in a wheelchair, you wouldn’t black someone up.
Authenticity is leading us to joyous places.” While Davies has remained firm on his stance, other industry professionals like Evans have expressed a different opinion.