The debate continues over whether it's appropriate for straight actors to play gay roles in movies and TV shows, as this is something that has resulted in online criticism in recent years. Perhaps that's a sign of how quickly things can start to change in Hollywood, as it wasn't so long ago when Taron Egerton won a Golden Globe Award for doing just that. The actor played openly gay singer Elton John in the acclaimed biopic Rocketman, released by Dexter Fletcher in 2019. In addition to earning big profits at the box office, the movie had also drawn a lot of praise for Egerton in particular with the reviews from critics.
It could be speculated that Egerton may not have been considered for that role if Rocketman were to go into production today, given the scrutiny over straight actors portraying gay people. In any case, Egerton, who also played a gay character in the West End production of Cock, has shared his thoughts on the matter in a new interview with THR. He says how he's long been a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, but he is cautious about establishing a new "blanket rule" about forbidding straight actors from playing gay roles, given the precedent that it would set.
“I grew up in a very liberal town, and a couple of my close friends are gay," Egerton explains. "I feel an affinity with that community. I don’t particularly feel that there should be a blanket rule about whether straight actors should play gay roles. That’s very easy for me to say as a straight man, but I think that’s possibly a precedent not worth setting.”
Taron Egerton Felt at Home Playing a Gay Man
He may not be gay, but Egerton has still said in the past that he felt the least like an "imposter" when he played Elton John in Rocketman. In a GQ interview back in 2019, he said that he always felt like he fit in better with the people he'd meet at a gay club as opposed to a "football match."
“I always felt more at home in a gay club than at a football match, far more at home," he said in the interview. “I’m not someone who really subscribes to this binary view of male and female archetypes or ways of behaving.”
Later in the interview, he added, "I’ve approached it wholeheartedly and I hope that for that reason people accept me [as Elton]. The LGBTQ+ community has always been about inclusiveness, hasn’t it? Not about ‘We’re here. You’re there.’ In fact, if you want to come in, come on in.”
You can catch Taron Egerton in the new movie Tetris, which hits Apple TV+ on March 31, 2023. View the official trailer below.