LGBTQ+ characters played by straight actors

It appears that all the “cool kids” in the UK are drinking Prime.

Transcript

00:00Euphoria's Jacob Elordi and Babylon's Diego Calva are set to star opposite as lovers in an upcoming

00:05film so we need to talk about the long-standing question of whether straight actors should still

00:08play queer characters. Elordi and Calva have been cast in the upcoming adaptation of Shannon

00:13Pughfall's novel On Swift Horses. Elordi will play Julius, a war veteran who while in Las Vegas

00:17meets a blackjack artist named Henry played by Calva and a love interest soon forms. The casting

00:22announcement was met with much excitement by fans of the two actors but as with similar performances

00:26it prompted discussions on straight actors playing queer characters. Some audiences have argued that

00:30only queer actors have the authenticity to bring these parts to life. Others say some actors who

00:35play these roles may not be out publicly as was the case for Heartstopper's Kit Conner who came

00:39out as bisexual after being shamed for playing a queer role. Either way when we look at LGBTQ plus

00:44characters in general on-screen representation is actually at an all-time high. The 2021 to 2022

00:49annual GLAAD TV report found that 11.9% of characters in scripted broadcast primetime

00:54programming are LGBTQ plus which is a new record.