Jeremy Strong says criticism of Trump biopic gay role is ‘valid’

Succession star Jeremy Strong has said it’s “absolutely valid” to criticise him for playing a gay man on screen in an upcoming Donald Trump biopic.

He admitted that his role in The Apprentice, where he plays bigoted and closeted gay lawyer Roy Cohn, was bound to be controversial, but added: “I’m sort of old-fashioned in the belief that, fundamentally, it’s [about] a person’s artistry, and that great artists have been able to change the stamp of their nature. That’s your job as an actor.”

The debate surrounding whether straight actors should play queer roles has sparked back up in recent years, with several stars happy with the idea, while others aren’t so sure. But no out LGBTQ+ actor has won an Academy Award for a gay role, while straight actors, including Tom Hanks, Sean Penn and Jared Leto, have all picked up Oscars for playing LGBTQ+ people.

It was an actor’s job to “render something that is not necessarily your native habit,” but that critiquing the decision is “absolutely valid”, Strong told the LA Times.

“While I don’t think that it’s necessary [for queer roles to be played by queer actors], it would be good if that were given more weight,” he said. “What I do feel, whoever plays any part ever, is that you have to take these things as seriously as you take your own life.

“It is not a game, and these people and their struggles and the experiences you’re trying to render are not a play thing.”

Several actors, including Al Pacino, in 2003’s Angels in America, and Will Brill, more recently in Fellow Travelers, have portrayed Cohn, who supported Trump’s early career, on screen. The disgraced lawyer – who played a major part in the “reds under the beds” and “lavender scare” purges driven by senator Joseph McCarthy in the 50s – never publicly disclosed his sexuality, or that he was HIV-positive. He died of an Aids-related illness in 1986.

Researching the role, Strong knew the first step was to understand Cohn’s “anguish and turmoil”, adding: “If I didn’t believe I could understand it or connect to it in a way that is faithful or voracious, I wouldn’t have done it.”

Other actors who have waded into the debate recently include young gay star Joe Locke. He didn’t think it was “fair” to stop straight actors playing queer roles, telling The Guardian that he wouldn’t want to be denied a straight role and the same should be true in reverse, as long as the focus is on authenticity.

He pointed out that it would be incredibly difficult for studios to even know a performer’s sexuality during auditions.

“There’s no way they would have been able to say: ‘Are you gay, otherwise you can’t audition for this part’, to a 16 year old,” Locke said of his audition for the part of Charlie Spring in Heartstopper. “You shouldn’t need to know that.”

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