Stanley Tucci: Straight Actors Can Play Gay Roles

Actor Stanley Tucci weighed in on the controversial topic of whether straight actors should portray gay characters in films and series.

Tucci, 62, who has famously portrayed several gay characters, including his iconic role in "The Devil Wears Prada," shared his views in an interview with Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, noting that he thinks it's fine for actors to do so as they are "supposed to play different people."

However, Tucci said it needs to be done "in the right way."

"I am always very flattered when gay men come up to me and talk to me about 'The Devil Wears Prada' or they talk about 'Supernova,' and they say that, 'It was just so beautiful,' you know, 'You did it the right way,'" he said.

"I really do believe an actor is an actor is an actor. You're supposed to play different people. You just are. That's the whole point of it."

Actor Tom Hanks holds an opposing view. Last year he admitted that he did not think his portrayal of a gay lawyer battling AIDS in the 1993 film "Philadelphia" would go over well today.

Hanks may have won an Oscar for his performance but, in an interview with The New York Times Magazine, he said that the role was not necessarily suited for a straight man now.

"Could a straight man do what I did in 'Philadelphia' now? No, and rightly so," he said. "The whole point of 'Philadelphia' was don't be afraid. One of the reasons people weren't afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man."

Hanks added: "We're beyond that now."

"I don't think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy," he said. "It's not a crime, it's not boohoo, that someone would say we are going to demand more of a movie in the modern realm of authenticity. Do I sound like I'm preaching? I don't mean to."

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