Speaking as a gay man, and as someone who has been involved in community theatre, the whole point of acting is the telling of stories through the suspension of disbelief. It really doesn't matter what sexual orientation the actor has so long as he or she is performing well and the audience can believe what is presented. Homosexual and heterosexual men should be able to be cast in any role regardless of their sexual orientation - because you can't see a sexual orientation.
Why is the conversation only centered on gay men ? That’s “male privilege” right there what about lesbians and bisexuals ? As JJ said These stories won’t get told either ..
It's unbelievable. The concept of acting is to play a role. If this is supposed to be played by a person who is just that person it isn't acting anymore. Performing arts used to be about character building. Ariel should be played by a real mermaid on their twisted concept then 😂
@@supernova7848 I'm pretty sure that if Lesbian women want to be involved in Community theatre then as far as being cast in a role is concerned it shouldn't matter what sexual orientation the actor is. All that matters is how believable the created character is to the audience.
@@Josie545 I think if we were to look at the representation on even more mainstream entertainment , these groups would be over represented . For the most part I do not care, but when they use the divisive excuse of representation to be exclusionary that bothers me.
JJ is spot on! I can't believe this even a discussion. Acting is playing something you are not. Plain and Simple! The aim is to put on the best performance and the best actor to do that for the specific role should get the part. It should NOT be who is gay, who is lesbian, who has kids, it is who is best actor for the job and who is gonna make the money. END OF!
Some gay actors have been brilliant playing straight characters. Jonathan Bailey, Ben Aldridge, Luke Evans and Russel Tovey are a few British actors that come to mind. It would be so sad if they were told to only play gay characters. It shouldn't matter who they are attracted to in their real lives, only if they can portray the character well. In Bridgerton I was completely convinced that Jonathan Bailey's character was madly in love with his female on-screen love interest. Likewise the film Gods Own Country starred straight man Josh O'Conner who was amazing playing the role of a gay man. Actors should not have their sexuality questioned when auditioning for roles. It's irrelevant.
A lot of gay men have played straight roles and very well too. For example the actor who played Niles Crane in Frasier, David Hyde Pierce, who loved Daphne through the whole series.
Surely, it’s also discrimination to allow gay actors to play straight characters. So, 98% of roles should be off limits to gay actors. That’s equality folks!!!😂😂😂
THIS IS INSANE coming from the same guy who says anyone can play dwarves and it doesn’t matter that they are having their roles taken away from them. Just WOW
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I thought acting was behaving as someone who you are not , how can it be that someone can't act non-campy and consider themselves a good actor. This guy seems to think , as we see a lot in modern tv and cinema , arguments like this are from people who want the show to be about themselves , not about a fictional character.
Should someone who is not a serial killer play a serial killer? Should someone who is not a rapist play a rapist? Should someone who is not royalty play a king or a queen? Should someone who is not a detective play a detective? Should a Christian play a Jewish person? What codswallop is this?
This is hilarious... i arrived at this video from a piers morgan interview in which james barr was defending disneys decision to cast non-dwarf actors as the dwarfs in the new snow white movie.
So it's OK for gay men to play straight roles but not the other way around . ? I really don't like this person . He is rude . I've seen him on other shows and it's his way or the highway. I mean he says it's OK for EJ to have a straight person play him but not a company to hire the best actor for the role .
Freddie Mercury was one of the most known rock stars in the world and non of his fans got upset watching the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, where the main role was played by an amazing actor, not a gay person. Throughout history, actors were free of politics for the reason- to entertain people not to deliver political messages.
There are generally two arguments used to justify this kind of "keep in your lane" casting, where only people who are X can play X. The first is "authenticity" - allegedly only a person who actually is X can properly portray X. Well, fine, ignoring that there's a reason it's called acting and that if you took that idea to its logical conclusion then Anthony Hopkins shouldn't have played Hannibal Lecter because (as far as we know) he's not a cannibal serial killer, the counter in this specific instance is that this means that no gay actor should be playing a straight character. I'm sure all gay actors supporting this idiocy will be happy to give up any chance of those non-gay roles. And the second argument is that people who are X have fewer roles available to them to begin with, so giving away those roles to non-X actors is unfair. Now this might have some validity when we are talking about (for example) disabled roles - if you are restricted to a wheelchair then a lot of roles won't be an option for you - but again that falls down for gay actors, because their sexuality has never denied them access to straight roles. So, in short, the answer is yes, straight actors should be able to play LGBTQ+ roles, unless gay actors are willing to agree to never take straight roles. Otherwise its clearly not about fairness, authenticity, or any one of the other buzzwords thrown out by the activists to try and justify this stupid suggestion, but (as we all know is really the motivation) about trying to get an advantage - "you aren't allowed to play 'our' roles, but we can play 'your' roles."
They keep saying "play" -- "a straight actor shouldn't PLAY a gay character" -- without realising that even that word refers to acting, pretending! They have cognitive dissonance; no wonder they're so upset!
Casting directors are not artists but useful idiots. They are basically glorified receptionists. It is the director the one that should choose talented
An actor is an actor, they usually play roles which have nothing at all to do with who they really are. Hence, an actor can play the Pope or a priest or a nun and not expected to have been one of those things in real life. There are plenty actors today who are gay, they've already done their coming-out, yet they are not being limited in the roles they play because of their homosexuality. To say only a gay actor can play a gay role is ridiculous for then in fairness, a gay actor should not be able to play a straight man which at the end of the day, will limit greatly his scope of work.
Saying that a gay man in 2023 walks out his door in shame is wrong ........ You are speaking for yourself for when I walk out of the house i feel NO shame but pride for what I have accomplished........Dude you are not helping with statements such as the one you made...........
James is completely unbearable. It is okay if straight actors play gay characters and vice versa, however he keeps moaning and changes his narrative to suit him. This is coming from the guy who said Ozzy Osbourne started the pandemic so he has absolutely no credibility.
OHH MY GOD!!! What else can people like him whinge about? Any film maker/casting director worth their salt will cast the best ACTOR for the role. They should choose who is best for the film, not to stop hurt feelings. There are loads of gay actors who have played straight parts and vice versa, stop complaining because you cant get your own way just because you feel you deserve it
As a gay man myself I couldn’t care less who plays the role, after all it’s just make believe but if they’re going to just have gay actors for gay roles then it should also mean straight actors only for straight roles.
Of course it's bigoted ..saying that only one type or characteristic trait individual should only be played exclusively by that one type and characteristic trait individual excluding all others outside of that type is INDEED BY DEFINITION THE CORE MEANING OF BIGOTED !😂. Does that mean only Jewish actors can play Jewish characters because they were persecuted during the war and a non Jewish person doesn't know or have experienced persecution or shame .. He wants exclusivity and exclusion for those who so called "Don't understand being outside societies norm " ... He is as judgemental and BIGOTED as those whom he accuses of being judgemental and BIGOTED about . Utter balderdash argument 😂
Being an actor means that you pretend to be someone you are not in real life. An actor needs to do research and in my opinion - speaking as a gay man myself - having a straight dude spending so much time to get to understand his part, spending time to get to know the gay community and everything is the biggest compliment I can think of.
Because it gets engagement from people commenting on the ridiculous things he says! It's all a game to get as many viewers and as much engagement as possible through comments and shares. If there were only logical thinking people being interviewed, more people would agree and engagement would plummet.
Being an out of work Dalek actor I am incensed by humans in tin cans playing my specie on Dr Who. There are few enough acting roles Daleks in mainstream entertainment and this prejudice is harming my ability to obtain employment
As a person who rides horses I think only actual horse riders should be put on a horse as non riders look ridiculous lol Acting is acting. If you are a good enough at acting you can play any role. This is rubbish Cary Grant was gay and was cast as straight. Meritocracy over woke So on this notion unless you are poor you can't play a poor person as you don't know how it really feels. Utter tosh
Being an actor is about giving the most authentic presentation of a role that maintains the suspension of reality the viewer has agreed to participate in. Take John Travolta in the role of the mother in “Hairspray.” He absolutely killed it. Not once did I see a man playing a woman. Would a female have been as good in that role? Don’t know, don’t care. He kept me believing in that suspended reality without any effort on my part. He did the same thing for me in “Grease” in a man’s role. Something he obviously is. Putting a trans man in that role in order to be inclusive would have forced the viewer to make an effort to stay in that suspended reality. “Pulp Fiction”, “Faceoff”, “”Saturday Night Fever”, “Two of a Kind” and “Phenomenon.” All vastly different characters but he had me believing every single one because his talent kept me in that suspended reality without having to think about it. He’s none of those characters but all of those characters. That is proof of a great actor.
I'm gay. I don't care. Acting is acting. If they are purposefully excluding gay actors from playing gay roles, then that's another story. But the point made about "camp" men not being given roles to play straight romantic leads etc.... well duh! If you're a good enough actor, then you can be "camp" in real life, but act in a more macho way if you have the skills. If not, then you're not a good enough actor, or right for the role. And I'm sick of people saying straight actors are playing stereotypes when they act "effeminate" or over the top. So many gay men are like that. I know dozens of them, and there's nothing wrong with them being that way. So why have a problem if a certain gay role is flamboyant?
An actor acts the role of a character that's what being a actor means, regardless of their own gender or sexual persuasion. Otherwise they are not actors.
Lets just have reality movies and abolish acting altogether. And real people with real trauma can play abise victims and only murderers can play murderers, lets get em outta jail and get em a million dollar contract
I think it's quite dangerous that if you're cast in a gay role people have to inspect your sexuality to see if that's ok. Restricting casting choices is just going to foster the hate of directors with narrow views, the discrimination needs to be erased not held hostage, that's just going to cause a backlash. As usual, shortsighted. Moreover, why does he talk about gay people like they are some kind of alien species? Gay people are just people. Is it so hard to think that a straight actor with great sensitivity can picture themselves in the shoes of a gay person (and viceversa)? We're all human, we all have the same emotions, we only have them at different times and for different things. If you can picture yourself in someone's tragic story and add your emotions to it you're done. It's far from easy, but it's very doable.
I do hope that they remake The brave little toaster movie so that anyone who identifies as a toaster can get a job in acting. They must however identify as a two slice toaster for authenticity 🤡
James himself said he’s never done acting before and yet he’s trying to explain what acting involves even though he’s never experienced or done it his whole life “it’s not about pretending to be someone else”……… THATS EXACTLY WHAT ACTING IS! THATS WHY ITS CALLED “ACTING” Also the fact that he thinks there’s such a thing as “positive discrimination” or that he thinks something like that is okay just shows that he never hears the hypocrisy coming out of his mouth
But this guy thinks that the 7 dwarfs of Snow White can and should be played by different types of people other then dwarfs?!? !!!Hypocrite!!! Dwarfs have a very small opportunity to act and yet you want to take those away from those actors, there roles are EXTREMELY LIMITED far far far less then gay acting role
Why do you think Kevin Spacey was in the closet publicly until he was accused of sexual assault? Because publicly coming out would've limited his options.
No as it's called acting, with James he wants the actors to essentially play themselves and that's not what acting is about. If straight actors can't play gay characters, then gay actors can't play straight roles. If that what james thinks what about other roles he wants disabled actors to play disabled roles etc, so what about vampires, zombies etc should we then find people who are vampires etc cause whether it's real or fiction James wants the right actor for the right roles. James said gay actors should also be able to play straight characters & they have one was Wentworth Miller played straight roles he's gay, Luke Evans he's gay and also played straight roles, so James as usual is wrong again. James acting is about playing a roles that's isn't anything like them in their lives, it's a form of pretend. Discrimination isn't positive or otherwise, discrimination is discrimination. Race swapping is wrong to either way.
Omg! James you are such a drama queen. Why does everything have to be a fight with him. Just get on with life, I'm a 62yr gay man and I have never advertised my sexuality and come out, I am just me, I have a huge family both my parents had 12 brothers and sisters 24 in trial and not 1 ever asked or commented on me. They all know but never have I felt as though I'm different. They've welcomed my partner without question. I never understand why you hCe to keep on batching about being gay. You'd get further in life by doing what everyone else does, live your life as you are and stop causing issues where there are none.
Film producers want to make money. They will pick the best actor for the job, one that will bring in the audience. Life isn't fair, the acting world has never been fair. That's life.
Camp people are acting gay. They're acting already. Loads of actors who are gay have played straight roles. In fact, there are entire episodes of top ten channels dedicated to actors you didn't know were gay.
Quite right too. Murderers should only be played by murderers. Sexual predators by sexual predators, madmen by madmen; ok you get where I'm heading with this. Actors and actresses pretend to someone they are not. What matters is not who they are, but rather is their performance any good.
Following that logic, if a movie features dragons, you can't pick humans or animals to play them. Snap yourself in two but get real dragons to play them.
Then LGB actors will limited to a minority of rolls. If Straight people can not play LGB roles then LGB people can not play Straight rolls. Guess we need to Cancel Neil Patrick Harris for playing straight characters. lots of LGB actors/actresses need to be cancelled for their rolls as a straight person.
What is the relevance of the actor's sexual orientation in relation to the role he needs to play? None. There is no reasonable logic argument to make that gay roles should only be played by gay actors. But no surprise to hear a thing like this from James Barr. The guy's IQ is around the size of his shoe and I never heard him made an argument that wasn't poisened by an overload of emotions and non-essential oneliners.
Except gay and trans characters are almost disproportionately represented these days.. Like is seems like maybe one in 3 or one in 4 is gay or trans but in real life it's more like one in 9 or one in 10.. So it would be gatekeeping these not so rare roles to a small group
And I bet gay guys have auditioned for gay parts and been knocked back for a straight guy to get the part. The whole argument is ridiculous. If you are the best person for the job you get the job simple.
I guess it really comes down to do you agree with positive discrimination until we get to a point where minority groups are fairly represented. You can't argue that only gay actors play gay roles AND also argue it is fine for gay actors to play straight roles unless you are advocating positive discrimination.
positive discrimination is just discrimination , labour in there manifesto in 2019 were going to bring in bursaries for bame and disabled for the green revolution , despite the fact the largest by far working class/poor group would have been left out due to their skin colour , its not the right way to do things it creates division
So you can have a role for a gay character, a straight man in his audition gives an Oscar winning performance however, you have a gay man up for the same role and his audition is not upto scratch , but because its a gay character, they give it to the gay man who couldn't act for toffees. To be honest, if i was a film maker ide go for the best man for the job not the one who ticked a box. Absolutely unbelievable how these people think. These people need to grow up and stop acting like a victim, because they're anything but.
A lot of hollywood actors are cowards and will agree with whatever doesnt get them cancelled or whatever will make them look virtuos. This is a ridiculous premise that will definately affect the artform. If you believe only gay actors should play gay roles then only straight actors can play straight roles surely or does it only apply to any demograph that has been considered opressed? If we follow this logic through to all scenarios then can we also stop race swappping and giving black actors roles for characters that were originally white? We should only have pregnant women playing the role of a pregnant characters, a character that is specifically 42 only be played by 42 year old actors too or what about thos eteen dramas nwhich they cast people in their 20 to portray children? will this practice stop too? or what about having american actors portray foreign characters? surely that will have to stop?
Surely, someone is missing the point here. Isn't acting by actors about playing someone that you are not.
He’s not missing the point , he’s being willfully obtuse
I’m a gay man and some of the best performances I’ve seen are from non gay actors. And vice versa lol it’s acting !
Spot on
Speaking as a gay man, and as someone who has been involved in community theatre, the whole point of acting is the telling of stories through the suspension of disbelief. It really doesn't matter what sexual orientation the actor has so long as he or she is performing well and the audience can believe what is presented. Homosexual and heterosexual men should be able to be cast in any role regardless of their sexual orientation - because you can't see a sexual orientation.
Why is the conversation only centered on gay men ? That’s “male privilege” right there what about lesbians and bisexuals ? As JJ said These stories won’t get told either ..
What about bisexual actors??
@@pamelsims2068 What about them? Anyone can act. That's the thing about acting - it's telling a story. It's fiction.
It's unbelievable. The concept of acting is to play a role. If this is supposed to be played by a person who is just that person it isn't acting anymore. Performing arts used to be about character building. Ariel should be played by a real mermaid on their twisted concept then 😂
@@supernova7848 I'm pretty sure that if Lesbian women want to be involved in Community theatre then as far as being cast in a role is concerned it shouldn't matter what sexual orientation the actor is. All that matters is how believable the created character is to the audience.
By their own argument, gay actors can't play straight roles. Seems fair.
Yes that will greatly reduce their employment prospects!
@@Josie545
Maybe, have you seen netflix and disney recently ....
@@tdsdave no but I have heard about it. You have a point.
@@Josie545
I think if we were to look at the representation on even more mainstream entertainment , these groups would be over represented . For the most part I do not care, but when they use the divisive excuse of representation to be exclusionary that bothers me.
@@tdsdave I totally agree. Everything about racism, gender and Woke is one sided. We must fight back!
Can someone who isn't celibate play the role of a monk? It's only sexuality.
JJ is spot on! I can't believe this even a discussion. Acting is playing something you are not. Plain and Simple! The aim is to put on the best performance and the best actor to do that for the specific role should get the part. It should NOT be who is gay, who is lesbian, who has kids, it is who is best actor for the job and who is gonna make the money. END OF!
Well does that mean gay actors can’t play straight parts
NPH has entered the chat
Some gay actors have been brilliant playing straight characters. Jonathan Bailey, Ben Aldridge, Luke Evans and Russel Tovey are a few British actors that come to mind. It would be so sad if they were told to only play gay characters. It shouldn't matter who they are attracted to in their real lives, only if they can portray the character well.
In Bridgerton I was completely convinced that Jonathan Bailey's character was madly in love with his female on-screen love interest.
Likewise the film Gods Own Country starred straight man Josh O'Conner who was amazing playing the role of a gay man. Actors should not have their sexuality questioned when auditioning for roles. It's irrelevant.
But it happens we are living in the real world not fantasy.
So a murderer plays a murderer?
👏👏👏👏👏👏😂😂😂
As an actor you can play any role. It's called "acting"
As someone whose a lesbian let me tell you something…
STRAIGHT PEOPLE CAN PLAY GAY ROLES!
James Barr: "Only gay actors should play gay roles!"
Also James Barr: "If a man wants to be a woman then he is a woman!"
Nothing the idiot says makes sense.
I’m appalled they don’t hire real serial killers for slasher movies!
Why are you equating being Gay with being a serial killer which is ilegal?
A lot of gay men have played straight roles and very well too. For example the actor who played Niles Crane in Frasier, David Hyde Pierce, who loved Daphne through the whole series.
All closeted when playing those roles.
@@veritasestlibertas6037 David Hyde-Pierce was not closseted he was very open about being gay. However I admit some are.
@@Josie545 , no. David Hyde Pierce came out in 2007, after Frasier was over.
@@veritasestlibertas6037 oh I wasn’t aware of that. Thank you.
Surely, it’s also discrimination to allow gay actors to play straight characters. So, 98% of roles should be off limits to gay actors. That’s equality folks!!!😂😂😂
It's called acting
If it works both ways, this idea seriously limits gay people's roles.
THIS IS INSANE coming from the same guy who says anyone can play dwarves and it doesn’t matter that they are having their roles taken away from them. Just WOW
Exactly
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I thought acting was behaving as someone who you are not , how can it be that someone can't act non-campy and consider themselves a good actor. This guy seems to think , as we see a lot in modern tv and cinema , arguments like this are from people who want the show to be about themselves , not about a fictional character.
Should someone who is not a serial killer play a serial killer? Should someone who is not a rapist play a rapist? Should someone who is not royalty play a king or a queen? Should someone who is not a detective play a detective? Should a Christian play a Jewish person? What codswallop is this?
This didn’t age well with his comments on dwarfs not used in Snow White. James Barr is Such a tool
Dudes a hypocrite. Just watched the video of him defending the new Snow White for not casting dwarfs.
This is hilarious... i arrived at this video from a piers morgan interview in which james barr was defending disneys decision to cast non-dwarf actors as the dwarfs in the new snow white movie.
Acting is not about pretending to be someone else.....really?!😂
So it's OK for gay men to play straight roles but not the other way around . ? I really don't like this person . He is rude . I've seen him on other shows and it's his way or the highway. I mean he says it's OK for EJ to have a straight person play him but not a company to hire the best actor for the role .
Freddie Mercury was one of the most known rock stars in the world and non of his fans got upset watching the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, where the main role was played by an amazing actor, not a gay person. Throughout history, actors were free of politics for the reason- to entertain people not to deliver political messages.
Actors pretend to be somebody else (in most cases). That is why they call it “acting“.
There are generally two arguments used to justify this kind of "keep in your lane" casting, where only people who are X can play X. The first is "authenticity" - allegedly only a person who actually is X can properly portray X. Well, fine, ignoring that there's a reason it's called acting and that if you took that idea to its logical conclusion then Anthony Hopkins shouldn't have played Hannibal Lecter because (as far as we know) he's not a cannibal serial killer, the counter in this specific instance is that this means that no gay actor should be playing a straight character. I'm sure all gay actors supporting this idiocy will be happy to give up any chance of those non-gay roles. And the second argument is that people who are X have fewer roles available to them to begin with, so giving away those roles to non-X actors is unfair. Now this might have some validity when we are talking about (for example) disabled roles - if you are restricted to a wheelchair then a lot of roles won't be an option for you - but again that falls down for gay actors, because their sexuality has never denied them access to straight roles. So, in short, the answer is yes, straight actors should be able to play LGBTQ+ roles, unless gay actors are willing to agree to never take straight roles. Otherwise its clearly not about fairness, authenticity, or any one of the other buzzwords thrown out by the activists to try and justify this stupid suggestion, but (as we all know is really the motivation) about trying to get an advantage - "you aren't allowed to play 'our' roles, but we can play 'your' roles."
They keep saying "play" -- "a straight actor shouldn't PLAY a gay character" -- without realising that even that word refers to acting, pretending! They have cognitive dissonance; no wonder they're so upset!
The only person who should decide who gets a role is the casting director and the decision should be determined by who’s best. End of argument!!
Casting directors are not artists but useful idiots. They are basically glorified receptionists. It is the director the one that should choose talented
An actor is an actor, they usually play roles which have nothing at all to do with who they really are. Hence, an actor can play the Pope or a priest or a nun and not expected to have been one of those things in real life. There are plenty actors today who are gay, they've already done their coming-out, yet they are not being limited in the roles they play because of their homosexuality. To say only a gay actor can play a gay role is ridiculous for then in fairness, a gay actor should not be able to play a straight man which at the end of the day, will limit greatly his scope of work.
Gimme gimme gimme.... Whaaa whaaa whaaa... Tedious and frustrating. Why bother?
Course they should its called acting and role playing. Silly question really. Actors have to be many things. Its what they train for.
They don't have to be
With this logic, only serial killers should be casted in serial killer roles.
Yeah cause being Gay is the same as being a murderer which is ilegal. 😂. And you mentioned “logic”? Where is yours?
waiting idiots to say gay is not illegall killing is😂but what about gay serialkiller😂
Saying that a gay man in 2023 walks out his door in shame is wrong ........ You are speaking for yourself for when I walk out of the house i feel NO shame but pride for what I have accomplished........Dude you are not helping with statements such as the one you made...........
its called acting for a reason ? the meaning of the word acting, the art or occupation of performing fictional roles in plays, films, or television
And only real elves should play Legolas on LOTR.
James is completely unbearable. It is okay if straight actors play gay characters and vice versa, however he keeps moaning and changes his narrative to suit him. This is coming from the guy who said Ozzy Osbourne started the pandemic so he has absolutely no credibility.
Was Gandalf gay then? also who wants to tell this guy that Chris Hemsworth isn’t really an Asgardian God.
OHH MY GOD!!! What else can people like him whinge about? Any film maker/casting director worth their salt will cast the best ACTOR for the role. They should choose who is best for the film, not to stop hurt feelings. There are loads of gay actors who have played straight parts and vice versa, stop complaining because you cant get your own way just because you feel you deserve it
Positive discrimination is still discrimination!!!
Only astronauts should play astronauts. Only soldiers should play soldiers, only aliens should play aliens
She might be a great actor, but she wasn't good enough to convince me she was a white queen.
Many directors prefere to use actors who privately are the opposite of their roles. Should get better results technically.
Yeah actors should be able to play whatever roles they wish, that's the whole point of 'ACTING'
DUDES NOT EVEN AN ACTOR YET IS CLAIMING TO KNOW WHAT ACTING IS ABOUT WTF?
As a gay man myself I couldn’t care less who plays the role, after all it’s just make believe but if they’re going to just have gay actors for gay roles then it should also mean straight actors only for straight roles.
jesus this james barr is painful to listen to. who is he anyway?
Of course it's bigoted ..saying that only one type or characteristic trait individual should only be played exclusively by that one type and characteristic trait individual excluding all others outside of that type is INDEED BY DEFINITION THE CORE MEANING OF BIGOTED !😂.
Does that mean only Jewish actors can play Jewish characters because they were persecuted during the war and a non Jewish person doesn't know or have experienced persecution or shame ..
He wants exclusivity and exclusion for those who so called "Don't understand being outside societies norm " ...
He is as judgemental and BIGOTED as those whom he accuses of being judgemental and BIGOTED about .
Utter balderdash argument 😂
Grow up ,get the best actor for the job and that’s it ,and this is why the world is like this because of people like him lol
Never heard so many contradictions in a short argument.
Being an actor means that you pretend to be someone you are not in real life. An actor needs to do research and in my opinion - speaking as a gay man myself - having a straight dude spending so much time to get to understand his part, spending time to get to know the gay community and everything is the biggest compliment I can think of.
This man can not form a logical argument. How is he being invited on so many shows?
Because it gets engagement from people commenting on the ridiculous things he says! It's all a game to get as many viewers and as much engagement as possible through comments and shares. If there were only logical thinking people being interviewed, more people would agree and engagement would plummet.
Being an out of work Dalek actor I am incensed by humans in tin cans playing my specie on Dr Who. There are few enough acting roles Daleks in mainstream entertainment and this prejudice is harming my ability to obtain employment
How about the best actor or actress gets the job, just a thought .
As a person who rides horses I think only actual horse riders should be put on a horse as non riders look ridiculous lol
Acting is acting. If you are a good enough at acting you can play any role.
This is rubbish Cary Grant was gay and was cast as straight.
Meritocracy over woke
So on this notion unless you are poor you can't play a poor person as you don't know how it really feels.
Utter tosh
Being an actor is about giving the most authentic presentation of a role that maintains the suspension of reality the viewer has agreed to participate in. Take John Travolta in the role of the mother in “Hairspray.” He absolutely killed it. Not once did I see a man playing a woman. Would a female have been as good in that role? Don’t know, don’t care. He kept me believing in that suspended reality without any effort on my part. He did the same thing for me in “Grease” in a man’s role. Something he obviously is. Putting a trans man in that role in order to be inclusive would have forced the viewer to make an effort to stay in that suspended reality. “Pulp Fiction”, “Faceoff”, “”Saturday Night Fever”, “Two of a Kind” and “Phenomenon.” All vastly different characters but he had me believing every single one because his talent kept me in that suspended reality without having to think about it. He’s none of those characters but all of those characters. That is proof of a great actor.
On that basis ,All Horror and Slasher Movies can only be played by Locked-Up Psycos from Prison🤔👍‼️🤡🤡👏🤮🤮🤮‼️
I'm gay. I don't care. Acting is acting. If they are purposefully excluding gay actors from playing gay roles, then that's another story. But the point made about "camp" men not being given roles to play straight romantic leads etc.... well duh! If you're a good enough actor, then you can be "camp" in real life, but act in a more macho way if you have the skills. If not, then you're not a good enough actor, or right for the role. And I'm sick of people saying straight actors are playing stereotypes when they act "effeminate" or over the top. So many gay men are like that. I know dozens of them, and there's nothing wrong with them being that way. So why have a problem if a certain gay role is flamboyant?
Actors are able to portray many different roles. Surely it's the best actor and not by their sexuality.
An actor acts the role of a character that's what being a actor means, regardless of their own gender or sexual persuasion. Otherwise they are not actors.
Lets just have reality movies and abolish acting altogether. And real people with real trauma can play abise victims and only murderers can play murderers, lets get em outta jail and get em a million dollar contract
I think it's quite dangerous that if you're cast in a gay role people have to inspect your sexuality to see if that's ok. Restricting casting choices is just going to foster the hate of directors with narrow views, the discrimination needs to be erased not held hostage, that's just going to cause a backlash. As usual, shortsighted.
Moreover, why does he talk about gay people like they are some kind of alien species? Gay people are just people. Is it so hard to think that a straight actor with great sensitivity can picture themselves in the shoes of a gay person (and viceversa)? We're all human, we all have the same emotions, we only have them at different times and for different things. If you can picture yourself in someone's tragic story and add your emotions to it you're done. It's far from easy, but it's very doable.
I do hope that they remake The brave little toaster movie so that anyone who identifies as a toaster can get a job in acting. They must however identify as a two slice toaster for authenticity 🤡
And no more Brits playing Americans!
Most of today's theatrical productions are woke rubbish anyway
James himself said he’s never done acting before and yet he’s trying to explain what acting involves even though he’s never experienced or done it his whole life “it’s not about pretending to be someone else”……… THATS EXACTLY WHAT ACTING IS! THATS WHY ITS CALLED “ACTING”
Also the fact that he thinks there’s such a thing as “positive discrimination” or that he thinks something like that is okay just shows that he never hears the hypocrisy coming out of his mouth
It’s Acting.
So consequently only straight actors for straight roles, right?
I guarantee that white guy would make that argument. That is what woke people believe.
But this guy thinks that the 7 dwarfs of Snow White can and should be played by different types of people other then dwarfs?!? !!!Hypocrite!!! Dwarfs have a very small opportunity to act and yet you want to take those away from those actors, there roles are EXTREMELY LIMITED far far far less then gay acting role
Should serial killers in movies only be played by real serial killers?
STOP DR WHO! ONLY A TIMELORD CAN PLAY A TIMELORD!
Never ever argue with a stupid person. They will bring you down to their level, and always win due to expierence
What a load of rubbish. It should be the best person for the role.
Why do you think Kevin Spacey was in the closet publicly until he was accused of sexual assault? Because publicly coming out would've limited his options.
No as it's called acting, with James he wants the actors to essentially play themselves and that's not what acting is about. If straight actors can't play gay characters, then gay actors can't play straight roles. If that what james thinks what about other roles he wants disabled actors to play disabled roles etc, so what about vampires, zombies etc should we then find people who are vampires etc cause whether it's real or fiction James wants the right actor for the right roles. James said gay actors should also be able to play straight characters & they have one was Wentworth Miller played straight roles he's gay, Luke Evans he's gay and also played straight roles, so James as usual is wrong again.
James acting is about playing a roles that's isn't anything like them in their lives, it's a form of pretend. Discrimination isn't positive or otherwise, discrimination is discrimination. Race swapping is wrong to either way.
Omg! James you are such a drama queen. Why does everything have to be a fight with him. Just get on with life, I'm a 62yr gay man and I have never advertised my sexuality and come out, I am just me, I have a huge family both my parents had 12 brothers and sisters 24 in trial and not 1 ever asked or commented on me. They all know but never have I felt as though I'm different. They've welcomed my partner without question. I never understand why you hCe to keep on batching about being gay. You'd get further in life by doing what everyone else does, live your life as you are and stop causing issues where there are none.
The other fellow also made ridiculous comments, no one his gonna be pretending they're gay to get parts.
Film producers want to make money. They will pick the best actor for the job, one that will bring in the audience. Life isn't fair, the acting world has never been fair. That's life.
Camp people are acting gay. They're acting already. Loads of actors who are gay have played straight roles. In fact, there are entire episodes of top ten channels dedicated to actors you didn't know were gay.
In a bit there will be no audince's to play to people wont put up with this nonesense
Quite right too. Murderers should only be played by murderers. Sexual predators by sexual predators, madmen by madmen; ok you get where I'm heading with this.
Actors and actresses pretend to someone they are not. What matters is not who they are, but rather is their performance any good.
Following that logic, if a movie features dragons, you can't pick humans or animals to play them. Snap yourself in two but get real dragons to play them.
Then LGB actors will limited to a minority of rolls.
If Straight people can not play LGB roles then LGB people can not play Straight rolls.
Guess we need to Cancel Neil Patrick Harris for playing straight characters. lots of LGB actors/actresses need to be cancelled for their rolls as a straight person.
How embarrassing
Desperately trying to get people, to hate other people
Look at the number of viewers
What is the relevance of the actor's sexual orientation in relation to the role he needs to play? None. There is no reasonable logic argument to make that gay roles should only be played by gay actors.
But no surprise to hear a thing like this from James Barr. The guy's IQ is around the size of his shoe and I never heard him made an argument that wasn't poisened by an overload of emotions and non-essential oneliners.
Exactly the best parts should be played by the best actors but is he saying gay actors can only play gay roles
Often a gay actor will be better at acting gay as well, but obviously everything should be evaluated case by case.
what about John barowman in Arrow, Jim Parsons As sheldon cooper
So only Vampires can only play Vampires, the Devil can only play the Devil, and Angels can only play Angels.
It’s such BS !!! You don’t have to be a murderer to play one !!!
So only a serial killer can play Fred and Rose West etc. Good luck either that.
Question is how gay do you have to be? The argument ' If you don't wanna come out as gay then don't go for gay roles' is dumb
Bros, a gay romcom directed by a gay man with gay actors, completely tanked at the box office. So yes, you need a fanbase.
Some individuals are obsessed with identity
Should serial killers and mass murderers only be played by convicted criminals?
Except gay and trans characters are almost disproportionately represented these days.. Like is seems like maybe one in 3 or one in 4 is gay or trans but in real life it's more like one in 9 or one in 10.. So it would be gatekeeping these not so rare roles to a small group
so the end of actors, if they cant play something they are not then there is nothing to act!!!
And I bet gay guys have auditioned for gay parts and been knocked back for a straight guy to get the part. The whole argument is ridiculous. If you are the best person for the job you get the job simple.
I guess it really comes down to do you agree with positive discrimination until we get to a point where minority groups are fairly represented. You can't argue that only gay actors play gay roles AND also argue it is fine for gay actors to play straight roles unless you are advocating positive discrimination.
positive discrimination is just discrimination , labour in there manifesto in 2019 were going to bring in bursaries for bame and disabled for the green revolution , despite the fact the largest by far working class/poor group would have been left out due to their skin colour , its not the right way to do things it creates division
So you can have a role for a gay character, a straight man in his audition gives an Oscar winning performance however, you have a gay man up for the same role and his audition is not upto scratch , but because its a gay character, they give it to the gay man who couldn't act for toffees.
To be honest, if i was a film maker ide go for the best man for the job not the one who ticked a box.
Absolutely unbelievable how these people think.
These people need to grow up and stop acting like a victim, because they're anything but.
A lot of hollywood actors are cowards and will agree with whatever doesnt get them cancelled or whatever will make them look virtuos.
This is a ridiculous premise that will definately affect the artform. If you believe only gay actors should play gay roles then only straight actors can play straight roles surely or does it only apply to any demograph that has been considered opressed?
If we follow this logic through to all scenarios then can we also stop race swappping and giving black actors roles for characters that were originally white? We should only have pregnant women playing the role of a pregnant characters, a character that is specifically 42 only be played by 42 year old actors too or what about thos eteen dramas nwhich they cast people in their 20 to portray children? will this practice stop too? or what about having american actors portray foreign characters? surely that will have to stop?