Adam Lambert on Theo James: "another straight man playing a gay icon"

[Controversiaga 6,910]

Just now, DelusionalGaga said:

Whenever there's a straight man playing a gay role everyone comes to his defense but then gay actors barely get cast in anything. "Actors should be able to play any role" but only when you're straight apparently? 

This is it.  There are not enough roles for gay actors.  Gay actors rarely get to play straight roles and when a straight actor plays a gay role it’s a slap in the face.

[Cameltoe Chariot 11,809]

I promise y’all there are a LOT of gay men in Hollywood playing straight roles 

Our girl starred in a movie with one of them… allegedly 

[HIM820 1,594]

16 minutes ago, NATAH said:

the real problem is the over saturation of biopics tbh

I don't necessarily think there's an over saturation of biopics, but rather Hollywood has now imbedded the genre into our collective idea of what entertainment is. Since the 1980s, it's pretty much been a staple for awards season. Lots of historians think this has to do with the success of "Coal Miner's Daughter" or the entertainment industry having enough history to now mine and reflect on itself for stories. On simpler terms, the execs know the movie will do well because it has a built in audience (fans) and a majority of people vaguely know who the subject is to be interested. From an awards/acting perspective, the genre allows for easier judgements to be made (how well they became the person, accent, mannerisms, etc) so it makes sense that those voting bodies would embrace these movies from a subjective lens. Lots of critics who worked during this time span have written about biopics changing the way they were able to judge and critique performances.

If you were to look at Oscar nominations pre-1980s, a lot of them come from movies that were first plays. Famous playwrights and Broadway in general, were very influential on the entertainment industry as a whole. Once that fell out of popularity and the pessimism/hyper-realism didn't catch on in the 70s to an increasingly commercial America, it left the door wide open for biopics to became the new standard. 

[Robo Ga 14,492]

It's called acting

[Togekiss 1,730]

40 minutes ago, DelusionalGaga said:

Whenever there's a straight man playing a gay role everyone comes to his defense but then gay actors barely get cast in anything. "Actors should be able to play any role" but only when you're straight apparently? 

Gay actors get cast in straight roles ALLLLLL the time…

Problem is they can’t come out 

To me that’s the real root of the problem.

[Aussie 2,785]

Theo does fit the look and he is of Greek or Greek Cypriot background just like George Michael. I get the whole point Adam is making, but giving the role to someone who is gay just cause of it also doesn’t seem right - should be the right actor for the role

[Aussie 2,785]

No, there isn't a Theo James-George Michael biopic on the way

After The Daily Mail reported on a project starring Theo James chronicling George Michael's life and career, his estate stepped in to set the record straight

https://www.avclub.com/theres-no-theo-james-george-michael-biopic-says-estate-1850000541

[SpadesToStart 1,653]

1 hour ago, NATAH said:

the real problem is the over saturation of biopics tbh

Hollywood will do anything to not produce an original piece of fiction.
 

Sequel, reboot, adaptation, biopic, live-action version? Front of the line

[DelusionalGaga 29,205]

3 minutes ago, Togekiss said:

Gay actors get cast in straight roles ALLLLLL the time…

Problem is they can’t come out 

To me that’s the real root of the problem.

At the end of the day it's one and the same thing. They don't cast openly gay actors in anything.  Closeted actors getting roles helps exactly no one. Representation goes hand in hand with visibility. If you don't have openly gay actors, visible roles, queer storylines that actually have importance, movies, tv etc. then it doesn't move the needle in any way. 

[Shipper 12,765]

I just saw 2 seasons of White Lotus 3 days ago and I really love it but I cannot remember this actor. 

He seems forgettable. 

[tyler k 3,010]

Adam's right tho....

everyone's just mad at Adam bc everyone is thirsty AF for Theo James ever since he was on White Lotus. don't get me wrong, the man is hot as hell and actually is a good actor too but like.... this is not the hill to die on lol 

[Night Vision 2,878]

2 hours ago, DelusionalGaga said:

Whenever there's a straight man playing a gay role everyone comes to his defense but then gay actors barely get cast in anything. "Actors should be able to play any role" but only when you're straight apparently? 

Gay actors do get cast a lot. It's just that most of them aren't out.

[RichAssPiss 4,109]

The "Actors should be able to play any role" people need to calm down and stop talking hypotheticals ("should") and start talking in actual terms. Queer actors need more roles. They face casting discrimination for straight roles. We have few openly queer leading men. Still. This could be a starmaking role for a queer actor. 

[Night Vision 2,878]

1 hour ago, DelusionalGaga said:

At the end of the day it's one and the same thing. They don't cast openly gay actors in anything.  Closeted actors getting roles helps exactly no one. Representation goes hand in hand with visibility. If you don't have openly gay actors, visible roles, queer storylines that actually have importance, movies, tv etc. then it doesn't move the needle in any way. 

That's not really true though. There are countless examples of gay actors playing straight roles in movies and television. Neil Patrick Harris playing the biggest womaniser on television for a decade for example, Jim Parsons played a straight man in The Big Bang Theory for the same amount of time, Matt Bomer plays straight roles all the time, most of the characters Luke Evans plays are straight, the list goes on. The same can also be said for lesbian actors such as Sarah Paulson, Jane Lynch, Kristen Stewart, Niecy Nash, and Cynthia Nixon.

I absolutely agree that visibility goes hand in hand with representation, but that is undeniably improving in regards to LGBTQ+ representation in film and television and to be honest the majority of those roles now are going to actors who identify as LGBTQ+.

The fact that there are so many gay actors who are still closeted due to a fear of it effecting their casting prospects is really more due to the reaction and gatekeeping of people on social media as proven by this example (which isn't even happening, there is no movie about George Michael in development with Theo James).

[bionic 37,791]

his anger should be targetted at the casting producers, not an actor trying to get a check