Playing it straight

Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone in The Favourite. Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me? Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody and Mahershala Ali in Green Book.

All wonderful actors who received Oscar nominations yesterday for playing LGBT characters. And yet they all have one thing in common: they are, as far as we know, straight.

In fact, 59 straight people have now been nominated for playing LGBT roles. The number of openly gay people nominated for playing LGBT roles? Two.

Is this a problem?

Last year, Darren Criss announced that he would no longer play gay characters on TV, "to make sure I won't be another straight boy taking a gay man's role."

Five months earlier, Scarlett Johansson pulled out of playing a transgender man in the film Rub & Tug after backlash online. "I understand why many feel he should be portrayed by a transgender person," she told Out magazine. No transgender actor has ever been nominated for an Oscar.

However, other straight actors have defended their right to portray people who are different from themselves. That is, after all, the definition of acting.

"I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience," said Cate Blanchett, who played a lesbian in the movie Carol.

What is more, a world in which only gay people could play gay roles would cause its own problems - including forcing actors to come out when they may not be ready. When Chloe Grace Moretz was asked about playing a gay character in The Miseducation of Cameron Post last year, she was uncomfortable. "Don't ever assume anyone's sexuality," she told the interviewer.

LGBT actors have also complained about being pigeonholed after coming out. Rupert Everett has said that doing so "ruined" his career, as filmmakers could not imagine him being "convincing" as a straight man.

"I would like to see more gay actors playing straight roles," said Ben Whishaw earlier this year. "It needs to be an even playing field for everybody."

So what is the solution? LGBT film fans will be pleased that more gay stories are being told and celebrated in Hollywood. But is it unfair for straight actors to be praised for their "brave" portrayals of gay characters, while gay actors claim they are being sidelined?

The debate is not just about sexuality. Last year, The Elephant Man was criticised for casting Charlie Heaton in the lead role instead of a disabled actor. And at the Golden Globes earlier this month, Emma Stone cried out "I'm sorry!" when host Sandra Oh joked about her role as a "part-Asian" woman in 2015's Aloha. Should actors only play characters who share their experiences?