Variety: “Almost Love” marks the directorial debut of actor Mike Doyle. The indie, which the openly gay Doyle also wrote, stars Scott Evans as a painter and Augustus Prew as his boyfriend who runs a famous fashion Instagram account. As their relationship comes to a crossroads, we also meet their circle of friends, including Kate Walsh, whose character’s husband of 15 years leaves her for a younger woman.
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This debate about the actors who should play queer roles has always been a tough one for me because I’m always so torn between both sides. Personally, I appreciate that Mike Doyle made the effort to cast his gay main characters with openly gay actors because of how the representation inspires those who watch it. This argument I completely agree with. The people who have the best understanding of the queer experince are queer people, and if you want an actor to give a geniue performance, a queer actor can encapsulate that. However, queer actors have played straight character and striaght character have played queer charcters and both have done brilliant performances. I don’t think a straight actor should be celebrated as brave for playing a queer role, like Mike Doyle said, but if an actor best fits the role with their talent, they should be cast. Regardless, the film does sound interesting and it’s one I want to see because it is telling a queer story that is not often told, and that representaion is important in today’s media.
I was thinking about the concept of straight actors plays gay roles yesterday as I was watching the filmed version of "Falsettos" from 2017 with Christian Borle. Borle is not part of the LGBT community, but he is often cast as someone who is. I've been curious about whether or not this poses an issue with representation, but I don't know if there's a clear answer. The director in this article, Mike Doyle, sees as it as something we should strive for, but not the biggest priority. One of the lead actors, Scott Evans, does mention that he doesn't always want to play LGBT roles because they revolve around that quality. As storytellers, I think we are doing much better at adding dimensionality to diverse roles, but there is definitely still work that can be done. Being a minority is a part of you, not the only part of you. I hope this can continue to be a priority, and not just in indie films.
The argument about wanting queer actors playing queer roles is very tied to the idea of queer directors and writers creating scripts about queer people. I think that it starts an important conversation about equal opportunity employment and how that can play against equal representation in entertainment forms. For example, I always think about the gay kids I knew doing theater growing up, and the fact that if they wanted lead roles a lot of times they had to perform parts that were in heterosexual relationships. In that case I don't view it as an issue of casting queer people in heterosexual roles, I view it as an issue with the lack of shows that portray gay relationships even though a large part of the theater industry identifies as being part of the LGBTQ+ community. The same issue happens in movies, except that the issue persists even where there is a larger volume of LGBTQ+ characters. Gay people often don't like gay movies because a lot of times the writing feels unfamiliar or the acting is unrealistic. I am excited to see more films like this one being produced, because while they are important in starting this conversation, they are also a step in the right direction.
Like other people have commented, there is a lot of conflicting thoughts for me surrounding the debate of having queer actors play queer characters. As someone who is openly gay, I feel that having accurate representation in television and film is super important from all aspects. As more LGBT+ characters are featured on screen, I see a definite need to have these characters represented by people who can tell that story accurately. But the other aspect of this is that you don’t have to be out, loud, and proud to be gay, and I don’t know if someone has to be openly gay to play a gay character, so I don’t really think that someone has to be outwardly identified as straight or gay to play a straight or gay character. I think the bigger part of this, is that the recognition shouldn’t be going to the actors that may be playing these characters, but instead we should be recognizing the importance of the story being told and how it is being shared. LGBT+ representation is so important, and we need to make sure we are continuing to give it space in the entertainment industry.
I have always thought it to be interesting when straight actors are cast in gay roles. That's not to say that as an actor, you cannot play something that you cannot directly relate to, as that is often the purpose of taking on a role that is not yourself, stepping into the shoes of another character for a moment. However, I applaud Mike Doyle for recognizing this imbalance in the entertainment industry as a whole. The importance of representation is everything. A large portion of representation especially in the media is setting an example and new precedence for people to be able to picture a love story or moment in time that they can relate to and watch it through a tv screen. Yes, actors overall should be able to play characters that they are different from, but I am very happy to see representation being a key point in this film. Elena Keogh
It’s really great to see this director defiantly making space for queer actors to have roles. I myself am of two minds about the “should only gay actors play gay roles” debate – queerness is something that can be acted for a role, unlike race, types of disabilities, culture, etc., so in that sense, anyone can play a gay role, and I think it’s important that there isn’t a stigma among heterosexual actors against playing gay characters. However, I also think that when possible, queer actors should be prioritized for queer roles. The first reason is that it makes space for queer talent who may otherwise have harder times getting roles in a mainstream cisgender and heterosexual society, so if it’s the difference between employing a queer actor or a straight actor, the win for diversity and visibility is to hire the queer actor. This is especially true for trans and nonbinary actors, who often struggle more than gay actors to get roles. Additionally, a queer actor may be able to play the role with more nuance and understanding of where the character is coming from, making them a better fit for the role – but that’s not to say a straight actor can’t handle it.
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