![]() Queer artists deserve the chance to tell their own stories (in all aspects). And that’s troubling, considering how many actors have won for playing LGBTQ+ characters. ![]() Though Sam Smith was wrong in 2016 when he claimed to be the first openly gay man to win an Oscar, Sir Ian McKellen's correction that there has never been an openly gay actor to win the prestigious award was right. Right now, we are expected to celebrate the fact that queer narratives are finally making it to the big screen at all, but we want queer actors on our screens, too. Where Bohemian Rhapsody could have presented a great opportunity for its lead actor to bring awareness to LGBTQ+ issues, it instead nearly led to the erasure of its protagonist’s sexuality.Īt the very least, it would mean a lot to queer audiences to have actual LGBTQ+ people to rally behind when it’s time to support these films. ![]() In addition to an inherently better understanding of what it means to be LGBTQ+ (and the more nuanced performances that would result), queer people would also be more likely to feel protective about how their narratives are presented to the world. Many openly queer actors aren’t afforded the opportunity to play traditionally “straight” roles because of their queerness, so it would figure they should at least play characters whose lived experiences mirror their own. But I can’t help but wonder what the industry would look like if actual queer actors were given the same opportunities to front these films as their straight peers. These movies are mostly fantastic - and for what it’s worth, many of the straight actors who portray these queer characters are incredible as well. (The other, The Favourite, also stars Olivia Colman and Emma Stone in queer roles.) Boy Erased, also in theaters this week, stars Lucas Hedges, while Disobedience starred Rachel McAdams and, in the first of her two queer roles this year, Rachel Weisz. The Miseducation of Cameron Post was fronted by Chloë Grace-Moretz. Outside “prestige” cinema, you can look to this year’s Love, Simon (a film I really enjoyed), which broke ground as the first mainstream teen studio film to feature a gay protagonist - but stopped short of casting a gay actor, opting for Nick Robinson instead.
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