Culture

Darren Criss vows to never play a gay character again

Dec 20 2018
Written by Sofia Lotto Persio

Darren Criss attends the premiere of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story."

Darren Criss was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Andrew Cunanan. (Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty)

Award-winning actor Darren Criss is no longer comfortable playing gay characters, knowing that a gay actor may be better suited for the role.

Criss has made a name for himself playing gay characters such as Glee‘s Blaine Anderson, and gay serial killer Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

“I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.”

— Darren Criss

In an interview with Bustle, Criss said that what drove him to these characters was their complexity, which made them an exciting role to play. But he is also too aware that, as a straight man, those are not necessarily his stories to tell.

“I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role,” Criss told the publication.

“The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience,” he added. “It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people.”

Ryan Murphy and Darren Criss attend FOX Broadcasting Company, FX, National Geographic and 20th Century Fox Television 2018 Emmy Nominee Party at Vibiana on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

Ryan Murphy and Darren Criss pose with their Emmys. (Araya Diaz/Getty)

Criss, who won an Emmy and was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Cunanan, also explained he wanted the role because it represented the first opportunity of his career to play a character with the same Filipino-American heritage as him.

“There’s something very twisted about the fact that somebody that I share ethnicity with, a Caucasian-Filipino-American who is famous for doing something absolutely deplorable, is now the reason that I get to sit here and talk to you,” Criss told Bustle. “That is sort of a bizarre twist of fate.”

Darren Criss speaks out on Hollywood representation issues

Criss’s comments address a longstanding issue of representation in Hollywood, with actors from LGBT+ and ethnic minorities groups becoming increasingly vocal in denouncing the industry’s double standards, wherein cisgender straight actors receive praise for taking on roles outside of their experience, while LGBT+ and BAME actors struggle to get cast.

Darren Criss attends the panel and photo call for FX's "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story."

Darren Criss was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Cunanan. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty)

Cisgender white actor Scarlett Johansson became a sort of poster-child for the issue of representation, first in 2017, when she played the lead role in the remake of the Japanese cult anime Ghost in the Shell and then this year, when she became attached to the role of real-life transgender gangster and massage parlour owner Dante ‘Tex’ Gill in the biopic Rub & Tug.

Johansson eventually withdrew from the role, but various Hollywood actors and directors have since defended cisgender, straight actors’ right to play whatever role they want.

Actor and director Andy Serkis said earlier this month: “Actors should be able to play anything,” while Cate Blanchett, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 2015 lesbian drama Carol, said in October she would “fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience.”