I watched a video today by Jonathan Pie. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, he’s a character performed by Tom Walker, who satirises current news stories. I’ve been watching his content for many years and enjoy his tongue-in-cheek approach. Today however, I take umbrage with the video I’ve just seen. (Umbrage, does anyone even use that word anymore?)
My annoyance stems from his recent video entailed Acting Gay! in which he talks about Russell T Davies (Queer as Folk – Creator/Doctor Who – Head Writer) saying, all gay characters should be played by gay actors. This didn’t believe this was true. So, I took my time researching the story, finding out exactly what had been said and responded to the video in the comments section of YouTube. I have tried to post my response four times and each time, it uploads but when the page is refreshed, is no longer there. I’ve checked in my personal comments section – which shows all the comments you have ever posted – yet, it’s not there either. I can post on other videos, I can even post a short comment on Jonathan Pie’s, but it won’t accept this one. I presumed it was a character limit problem, set by YouTube. It isn’t. The limit is 5,000 characters and my post is half that. Whatever the reason, I felt it was important to share my research and response on this matter. So many people seem to be running with the notion that this is fact, when it isn’t.
Here’s what I tried to post:
Ok, I have to go deep with this one, as I feel it personally affects me as a gay man, a member of Equity and someone who has interviewed Russell T Davies in the past.
A lot of us know that Jonathan Pie is a character played by the actor Tom Walker, but I’m sure there are casual viewers who didn’t know that. Tom has said in the past that his views do not always match those of Jonathan and that Pie is an extreme version of himself. But, Tom is still the writer and draws from his own life, feelings and experiences to create the character.
I’ve re-read the interview Russell gave to the Radio Times and feel he has been misquoted. It’s as if Tom read the headline from The Mail and ran with his own thoughts and conclusions. For transparency, below is the entire paragraph where Russell talks about this:
The gay male characters are all played by gay actors, something Davies thinks is massively important. “I’m not being woke about this… but I feel strongly that if I cast someone in a story, I am casting them to act as a lover, or an enemy, or someone on drugs or a criminal or a saint… they are NOT there to ‘act gay’ because ‘acting gay’ is a bunch of codes for a performance. It’s about authenticity, the taste of 2020. You wouldn’t cast someone able-bodied and put them in a wheelchair, you wouldn’t black someone up. Authenticity is leading us to joyous places.”
You can read the entire interview here.
He never actually said gay people have to be cast in gay roles, he’s saying they have to be authentic. The main cast of Queer as Folk were all straight – I know, because I met and interviewed them. But all were authentic to their characters. In his new show, all the actors are gay, but it is the interviewer who has said this is massively important, not Russell. As a writer myself, I know how crucial it is to cast the right person for the role. I wrote and directed a musical in 2017 about modern gay life in London. Only two of the five main cast were gay, yet all of them were fantastic.
I will add that being gay does bring many unique experiences straight people don’t typically encounter. Getting shunned by our parents, bullying and abuse, segregation and a vicious cycle of hate that stays with us our whole lives. That is something a straight actor needs to know and understand before playing a gay role. But a good actor can assume any role. Look at Eric McCormack who played Will in Will and Grace. A straight man who didn’t play a stereotypical gay man. Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Trevante Rhodes in Moonlight. All incredible performances of gay characters by straight men.
Does it help to play gay, if you’re gay? Of course, it does, but if you’re a good enough actor, you should be able to play anyone.
The right demonise enough people without the left doing it too.
You can watch Jonathan Pie’s video below: