Absolutely Fabulous icon Joanna Lumley has become the latest star to weigh in on the ongoing debate about straight actors portraying queer characters.
As the second half of Wednesday’s second season hits Netflix, in which Lumley plays Grandmama Hester Frump, she reflected in an interview with The i Paper on her legendary career and whether she has truly “proved” herself as an actress.
This ultimately led to a conversation about typecasting and the growing discourse that actors only play roles which align with their own identities.
“They’re not going to put me in as a Scottish Highland woman. Even if I could get the accent right, you wouldn’t go to me first,” she said. “And also, in today’s climate, they would go to somebody who is a Scot.
“So more and more, they’re stripping away the acting from it, because they’re saying, ‘If you’re going to play a lesbian, you’ve got to be a lesbian.’”
While Lumley said she “completely understands” both sides of the argument, she pointed to Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-winning performance as Christy Brown, a man with cerebral palsy, in My Left Foot (1989).
“Now, he wouldn’t have been allowed to do it. Maybe the film wouldn’t have been allowed to be made,” she explained. “And so you suddenly think, ‘Hang on, where is the line?’ It takes acting away from the whole thing. Go back to storytelling around the campfire, please. We’re storytellers, we’re entertainers, grasshoppers.
“If you can’t do that, then the world becomes boring beyond belief. If we can’t act things, what’s the point of actors? And so, gradually we begin to strip away all the things that we felt we could do, like accents or different nationalities… All that’s going away from us. They’re going, ‘If it’s Italian, she’s got to be Italian.’”
Over the last decade, various actors — particularly straight performers who have played queer characters — have weighed in on the debate, with opinions varying.
Stars such as Cate Blanchett (Carol), Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) and Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) have expressed support for straight actors taking on queer roles, while Darren Criss (Glee), Nicholas Galitzine (Red, White & Royal Blue), and Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) have voiced reservations, often citing a desire to preserve opportunities for queer actors.
Wednesday season two – part two – is now streaming on Netflix.
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