MovieChat Forums > Call Me by Your Name (2018) Discussion > Hiring straight men to play gay parts

Hiring straight men to play gay parts

posted 5 years ago by pepetoony (1744)
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How do we feel about that? I've been watching various interviews with Timothee & Arnie and whenever asked about rehearsing/filming their love scenes they start nervously laughing and making jokes to get through their responses which makes me wonder: Why didn't Luca just hire legit gay men for their parts? Don't get me wrong, I like both Timothee and Arnie as actors and found their love scenes together believable, but if they were so goddamn uncomfortable making out together then maybe they weren't the best ones for the job!

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I have less of a problem with hiring straight actors for gay roles than I do with the system that makes it difficult for gay actors to be open and out and still land good, diverse roles.

Acting, by definition, is the art of representing a character different from yourself, so I have absolutely no issue with straight actors playing gay roles or vice versa. It becomes annoying when you see straight actors winning critical praise and awards for playing gay roles, while gay actors are severely restricted because many studios won't take the chance in casting them in straight roles as they believe the public won't be able to reconcile their private life with the character. It's dumb and unfair, but hey, that's Hollywood.