Disney under fire over gay character

Showing sexuality is no barrier to talent or erm lack of! (I do like the Everett really)

Ooh and yes I’m currently enjoying the Bomer in White Collar for the first time...

Apologies - just my personal opinion. I haven’t seen either of the two titles you mention but perhaps I will look into them

He wasn't officially 'out' at the time, though. I mean, I think everyone wth functioning senses knew it, but he didn't come out till (googles it) 2007.

Btw, Frasier always reminds me of Hitchcock's 'Rope' - two snooty, effete Ivy League types in suits, apartment with big rear window, baby grand...

The Judas Kiss was a play, so sadly you missed that, but do track down The Happy Prince when it comes to DVD/streaming.

I mean, Disney themselves have hired openly gay actors to play straight characters recently.

Luke Evans played Gaston in the live action Beauty and the Beast.
Ben Whishaw is playing a heterosexual character in Mary Poppins Returns.

So yeah I struggle to get up in arms about this. It'd be another thing if it was a studio that ignores the existence of gay actors.

I understand the wariness people have in regards to the character description, but I agree with the point that The Sun is hardly the most reliable source of film news. Character descriptions and plot details often end up being wrong, even when coming from more professional sources.

I'm never a fan of this criticism to be honest. Openly gay or bisexual actors should get more opportunities to play characters of all orientations, absolutely. It would be naive to suggest that Hollywood doesn't ever turn their nose up at these actors purely because of their sexuality. However, sexual orientation is not something that is visible and in my opinion is not something that is anyone else's business, unless someone wants it to be. Yes Jack Whitehall has had girlfriends, but so have plenty of gay and bisexual men. Even if he openly stated he was straight, only he himself knows for a fact whether that is true or not.

This criticism has also been aimed (albeit to a lesser extent) to young up and coming actors that have played gay and bisexual such as Ashton Sanders, Timothée Chalamet and Lucas Hedges. All of these actors were cast in their roles before they were even 20 and when little-to-nothing was known about their personal lives (in fact that is still the case for all of them). Firstly it's surely wrong to assume they are all straight when as far as I am aware, none of them have ever stated that to be case. Secondly, how on earth would it ever be appropriate for a director to ask an unknown or up-and-coming actor what their sexuality is? Especially when they're a teenager and may not have even figured it out themselves yet?

Yes, he was great in Happy Prince and I seem to recall that he was quite brilliant in Tennessee Williams’ The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore many moons ago.

I think it used to be that nobody cared. There have always been straight and gay performers and they've always played straight and gay roles, and they just got on with it and nobody took any notice. And then suddenly it became a matter of Earth-shattering importance to know where everyone sticks their bits. I don't get it.

I really don't care as long as everyone is adult and consenting. Makes nowt difference to me. But I do think the way that the media and wider society reacts to it is really interesting from a sociological perspective - we're at such a funny place right now, there's a real transition that has happened in the last decade, legally and socially. 

It's not true that nobody cared - nobody cared as long as everybody publicly presented themselves as straight, of course, but people very much cared if you didn't. And there are definitely regions of the world where that is still true.

Also, it's nobody's business where anybody sticks their bits and should have no impact on anyone's ability to perform a role, and yet there's an entire celebrity gossip industry that relies on the fact that people *do* care, and an entire PR industry based on the fact that people's opinions about a performer's personal life affects how they perceive them on screen, even if they're presenting themselves as straight.

I mean, just look at Tom Cruise.

I'm sure we all think that it's bullsh*t, really, but it's a multi-million dollar industry that wouldn't exist if people *truly* didn't care.

Yes - and it is one of the reasons why theatre-going can be such a joy - you often catch people before anyone else has heard about them, and certainly before anyone has a clue about their private life!

It's the Unicorn thing in particular that swung it isn't it?