Straight paid for gay

Not affection, not intimacy — just access. From their perspective, the identity of the person portraying a queer character should not matter unless, of course, the film is a documentary. Taken too far, it’s easy for us – as the viewing public – to believe we are entitled to that information.

While there is no single way of “acting gay”, casting straight actors as gay characters can still shape the kind of representation we see on-screen.

Authentic casting doesn’t just bring lived experience to the screen; it changes what kinds of stories get told, and how deeply they resonate. “As a culture, we are so obsessed with biography. It’s different when actors are at a level where they don’t have that kind of control over their career and are at the mercy of whatever is coming their way,” Hannah continues.

In recent years, however, this exploitation of queer trauma has come under fire and circulated the internet in barrages of buzzwords like “trauma porn,” and many have begun to wonder whether or not straight actors should be cast in queer roles. All arguably more “expected” choices for this kind of role. Nicholas Galiztine, meanwhile, is emerging as the potential new king of gay for pay, with roles in Mary and George (as a gay duke), Red, White and Royal Blue (a gay prince) and Handsome Devil (a gay rugby player).

The question of whether straight actors should playgay roles is a long-running debate which tends to centre around the politics of representation: some argue that it’s an insult to marginalised people, who deserve to see themselves portrayed authentically on-screen; others say that, if we are too prescriptive, we risk outing actors who are either closeted or private about their sexuality – in one ugly example of this playing out, Heartstopper’s Kit Connor (then only 18) was hounded into announcing he was bisexual.

Until Colman Domingo’s 2023 nomination for “Rustin” and Jodie Foster’s 2023 nomination for “Nyad,” Ian McKellan, a 1998 Oscar nominee, was the only openly queer actor to be nominated for playing a queer character. But if you are a gay actor who presents feminine, you’re still liable to find yourself pigeon-holed as the sassy sidekick, and you’re almost certainly not going to be cast as a straight character, or even a character whose sexuality is unmentioned and irrelevant: Generic Bloke #2.

“If a person presents a certain way, it can sometimes be difficult for a casting director to see past that,” says Hannah.

“It’s good in the sense that at least I’m getting seen, but it does mean I’m only getting seen when it comes to queer roles.”

For casting directors, finding queer actors for queer parts also presents certain challenges. While straight performers are celebrated for taking a “risk” by stepping into queer roles, queer performers are still often considered too risky to lead at all.

This isn’t simply about identity politics—it’s about who gets to shape culture.

Masculinity, especially the un-self-aware kind, is hot. All talented. Because these performances are in the service of the vision of queer directors, we are probably less likely to consider them inauthentic – I’d certainly be more enthused about watching a straight actor in a Todd Haynes film than, say, Ben Platt playing Disney’s tenth “first gay character” in a live-action remake of The Emperor’s New Groove.