All of Us Strangers Star Paul Mescal on Straight Actors Playing Gay Roles

Rising star Paul Mescal has been making waves in the film industry! After his breakout role in the acclaimed series Normal People, based on Sally Rooney‘s bestselling novel, Mescal's career has skyrocketed.

In 2022, he wowed audiences with his powerful performance in Aftersun, a film directed by Charlotte Wells. His portrayal of a troubled and emotionally distant father even earned him an Oscar nomination!

Mescal's latest project is the romantic fantasy movie All of Us Strangers, where he plays Harry alongside the talented Andrew Scott. The film explores a beautiful homosexual relationship between the two characters. Now, some people criticized Mescal for taking on this role since he identifies as straight.

However, in a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Mescal addressed the conversation about who should play characters of a different sexual orientation. And you know what? He made some great points!

“It depends on who's telling the story,” Mescal explained. “The issue is that there have been so many offensive queer performances in cinema, but that's because some filmmakers and actors have been careless.”

All of Us Strangers was written and directed by Andrew Haigh, a talented gay filmmaker who has expertly explored homosexual relationships in his previous works. Thus, Mescal added, “I don’t think this film exists in that conversation whatsoever. And that’s it.”

This isn't the first time someone has spoken up about this topic. Andrew Scott, who stars alongside Mescal in All of Us Strangers, also expressed similar sentiments. In an interview with Screendaily, Scott emphasized the importance of not just playing a character's sexuality but embodying the character's attributes and telling each individual story in the right way.

“As much as I feel like representation is important, so is transformation… I don’t love the idea of being cast for something purely for my own sexuality,” he explained.

“You’re not just playing gay, you’re playing the attributes of the character. I don’t want a totalitarian regime – we have to look at each individual story we’re telling and what’s right for that.”

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