Colin Firth has said that he remains undecided on whether it is right for straight actors to portray gay characters.
Firth will be starring opposite Stanley Tucci as a gay couple in the forthcoming film Supernova. The drama focuses on the two men who embark on a road trip together after Tucci’s character is diagnosed with early-onset dementia.
During an interview with Attitude, the actor was questioned on whether he believed it was right for him, a straight man, to take on a gay role.
Firth declined to give an opinion either way. The 60-year-old said: “I don’t have a final position on this. I think the question is still alive.
“It’s something I take really seriously and I gave it a lot of thought before doing this.”
In 2009’s’s critically acclaimed drama A Single Man, Firth also portrayed a gay character. The role earned him an Academy Award nomination the following year.
He continued: “Whenever I take on anything, I think it’s an insufferable presumption. I don’t really feel I have the right to play the character. That’s always the starting point. What do I know about this person’s life?"
“How can I presume to set foot in this person’s lived experience, let alone try to represent it?” said the Kingsman star.
His co-star Tucci added: “For so many years, gay men and women have had to hide their homosexuality in showbusiness to get the roles they wanted – that’s the problem here.
“Anybody should be able to play any role that they want to play – that’s the whole point of acting.”
