Jeremy Strong has weighed in on the long-running debate surrounding the casting of straight actors in gay roles.
Can Straight Actors Play Gay Characters? | Good Morning Britain
After playing Donald Trump's gay mentor Roy Cohn in The Apprentice, which opens in theaters on October 11, the Golden Globe winner said he believes LGBTQ actors should be given "more weight" when it comes to casting LGBTQ roles.
"Yes, it's absolutely valid," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm a little old-fashioned, perhaps, in believing that it's fundamentally [about] one's artistry, and that great artists, historically, have been able to, as it were, change the imprint of their nature. That's your job as an actor. The job is, in a way, to create something that's not necessarily your natural habitat. … While I don't think it's necessary [for gay roles to be played by gay artists], I think it would be good if that were given more weight."
Written by Gabe Sherman, The Apprentice follows a young Trump (Sebastian Stan)'s (Alexander McMahon) rise to power via a Faustian deal with influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Cohn. The film also stars Martin Donovan as Fred Trump Sr. and Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump.
