Darren Criss done playing gay roles on screen

[Lion Heart 15,041]

Darren Criss is making a change to his acting portfolio.

The Emmy-winning actor is perhaps best known for playing gay characters, including Blaine Anderson in Glee, Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace and the titular role of Hedwig in the Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

But as a straight man, he says he no longer wants to take potential roles away from actors who actually identify as gay.

“There are certain [queer] roles that I’ll see that are just wonderful,” Criss told Bustle. “But I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.”

Although Criss, 31, said playing those roles has “been a real joy,” he doesn’t feel comfortable doing it anymore, which he says is “unfortunate.”

Full story: https://people.com/tv/darren-criss-will-no-longer-play-gay-characters/

[Thomas P 18,479]

I actually kind of admire this tbh

highkey thought he was gay for the longest time though.

i mean after all he did make the Harry Potter musical 

[Ryusei 61,110]

now he can play the gay role in real life  

[Kimmo 80,690]

So he’s going to act straight now?... good luck getting those nominations 

[Taylorrgh 679]

7 minutes ago, Ryusei said:

now he can play the gay role in real life  

Only one can dream 

[Original Diva 4,966]

i admire his reasoning BUT NOOO HES SO HOT

[Miel 15,009]

I admire this, also.

... I also forgot he's not homosexual, considering so many of his larger roles.

[MaybeKermit 4,897]

Tbh I really have mixed opinions on this matter...

Ok people (Americans) are waaaaay too sensitive nowadays so indeed you have to be careful with the choices u make as an artist before cancel culture gets a hold on u. However, acting is....acting...?

It's only an illusion, that's why it's called "act"ing.. so yes a trans person knows more about how the whole transitioning process felt and how difficult it is etc than someone who's just straight, but... do u need to be a rapist to portray a rapist? Do u need to prove that you've killed 400 people to play Michael Meyers? Should I have been killed in the second world war to play in a movie about Auschwitz? 

My answer is no. As long as it's done with respect and as much involvement of the right people as possible, you dont need to be those things... after all, it's a movie and not a documentary.

However, for those of you who have watched Pose: it really was one of the most emotional and captivating series I watched about that period in NYC. And knowing that the whole cast is trans, are poc,...it maybe does mean something, but it is still not necessary in my opinion. 

[saispas 309]

I appreciate this so much but I feel like it might put a dent in his career since so many of his biggest moments have been him playing gay characters. I hope his career fares well. 

[doppelganger 3,933]

He’s straight? 

[Poissonche 12,365]

Gay actors complain that after coming out they only get cast in gay roles, but now it's offensive for straight actors to play gay roles I-

[alextruper17 8,908]

This si shooking. I swear I didnt know he is straight. 

[monketsharona 80,675]

29 minutes ago, saispas said:

I appreciate this so much but I feel like it might put a dent in his career since so many of his biggest moments have been him playing gay characters. I hope his career fares well. 

Ryan Murphy will make this possible

[River 116,422]

I think it's wrong, when you act, you learn about the character and you learn about how is it to be an LGBTQ person in this case and this is what we need actually, we need them to go through what we went and still going through, if it's the coming out, the homophobia and the rest.. and it's especially important with trans people, we need to let them learn how a trans feels, how the Transitioning works and so on..

Many straights who portrait LGBTQ characters became our biggest alias and voice and many of them are working in charities for our cause - this is the best thing that we could ever ask for, so it's totally wrong to go against any actor or actress that acting as an LGBTQ character, in the past and in the future.

[DelusionalGaga 29,579]

Let's see what the good sis Ryan Murphy thinks about that. It's not like anyone beside him is hiring him. Chances are we're going to see him making out with Evan Peters, Colton Haynes, Matt Bomer etc. on one of those FX shows next season.