Ben Wishaw Doesn’t always Believe Straights Playing Gay Parts

Most people don’t realize that when Abe Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address he used one-syllable words and he kept it short and sweet. He was a smart man who knew how to make his point. Anything longer or more self-indulgent and he would have lost his audience. 

With that said, this is a very LONG piece about Ben Wishaw, the actor. It’s so long they almost lost me, but I wanted to get to the part where he talks about straights playing gay for pay. Recently I posted about Eddie Redmayne and how he regreeted playing a trans character. Even though Redmayne was beyond excellent in that role, he regretted doing it for various reasons. And I agree with him. Just because you can do something well doesn’t mean you should be doing it. 

So I was curious about what Wishaw had to say on the topic.

Why shouldn’t a role like that be given to someone who knows, inside, what the character is? I’m all for that. I feel the same, sometimes, about straight actors playing gay parts. I’m critical if I don’t think the performance is, from my subjective experience, accurate. I might think, ‘I don’t believe you!’ And even a small moment of hesitation or inauthenticity will block my engagement with the whole story. So I understand these questions.”

This was my problem with Brokeback Mountain, a book written by a straight woman and a movie with straights playing gay. There were scenes that were simply not believable to me. One of which was the anal sex scene. I can still remember that. I wonder if Ms. Proulx tried that out personally, herself. 

Here’s more. I think he answered the question very wisely, and politely. I feel the same way when I see a straight playing gay, or when I read a book with all gay content that was written by a straight author. The rest of the straight world probably won’t notice. But we know right from the start. You can’t fool us. 

But check out the entire article. I know it’s long but it’s worth the read. They get into a lot more about hot Ben Wishaw.

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