Jim Parsons On Straight Actors Playing Gay: ‘The Fight Is To Ensure That All Parts Are Open To Everyone’

Jim Parsons was profiled in the Los Angeles Times about his role as Michael, the self-hating host of a birthday party attended by a group of gay men in pre-Stonewall-era New York, in The Boys In the Band saying he knew it was going to be a journey.

Parsons was then asked about the latest hot button issue in Hollywood, whether straight actors should be allowed to play gay on screen. When asked about the ongoing debate over whether straight actors should portray LGBTQ characters in entertainment, Parsons responds, “There’s definitely this spectrum: I think the fight, as it were, is not about having only gay people play the gay parts but to ensure that all parts are open to all actors. It’s important that gay characters are portrayed as well-rounded and completely human individuals.

“And there are plenty of straight actors who have played gay characters brilliantly. I think ‘Brokeback Mountain’ is one of the most touching gay movies and love stories I have ever seen, and those two straight actors [Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal] were the best choices for those roles.”