Colin Firth has no final position regarding straight actors portraying gay characters

In a recent interview with Attitude Magazine, actor Colin Firth says he is undecided about whether or not straight actors should play gay characters.

In the upcoming drama Supernova, Firth will star opposite Stanley Tucci as a gay couple who go on a road trip together after one of them is diagnosed with early-onset dementia. The film comes at a time when discussions have began to open up about whether or not straight actors should play gay roles. 

Firth was asked whether or not he believed it was right for him, a straight man, to take on a gay character in a major film role. However, Firth declined to give a clear answer either way. 

“I don’t have a final position on this. I think the question is still alive”, he stated. “It’s something I take really seriously and I gave it a lot of thought before doing this.”

He goes on to say: “Whenever I take on anything, I think it’s an insufferable presumption. I don’t really feel I have the right to play the character. That’s always the starting point. What do I know about this person’s life?”

“For so many years, gay men and women have had to hide their homosexuality in showbusiness to get the roles they wanted – that’s the problem here”, added Firth’s co-star Stanley Tucci. “Anybody should be able to play any role that they want to play – that’s the whole point of acting.”

This is not the first time Colin Firth has portrayed a gay character. In 2010, Firth earned an Academy Award nomination for his role as a gay man in the critically-acclaimed 2009 film A Single Man.

Watch the trailer for Supernova below