Rebel Wilson says ‘you don’t have to be gay to play a gay role’

Rebel Wilson has insisted actors should be allowed to play whatever role they desire as she becomes the latest star to weigh in on the Hollywood casting debates.

The Pitch Perfect star, 44, subtly slammed the film industry, claiming it’s ‘total nonsense’ that only gay actors can play gay characters.

Rebel – who came out as gay two years ago when she introduced her girlfriend on Instagram – made the comments while discussing the fact different genders get away with making different jokes.

Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, she said: ‘I’ve definitely said a lot of edgy jokes, and said them sometimes in very public places like the Baftas. 

‘Yeah I don’t think there’s a different standard, it’s more this thing about – if you are something then now you’re allowed to joke about it. So say, if you are overweight, you can say jokes.

But if you’re not (you can’t) that’s kind of what’s currently happening. So it’s not really gendered.’

She added: ‘I think that’s hard. It’s going into this territory of like saying, “Well, only straight actors can play straight roles, and gay actors can play gay roles”, which I think is total nonsense.

‘I think you should be able to play any role that you want. But I always think, in comedy, your job is to always flirt with that line of what’s acceptable. 

‘Sometimes you do step over it but, at the end of the day, you are trying to entertain people.’

Rebel came out as gay at the age of 42. 

The Pitch Perfect star took to Instagram to share the news about her new relationship, posting a sweet snap of herself posing with her girlfriend, designer Romana Agruma, in which both women are seen grinning from ear to ear.

In her caption, Rebel shared her joy over her new relationship, joking that she had spent years ‘searching for a Disney Prince’ only to discover that what she ‘really needed was a Disney Princess’.

‘I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess,’ she wrote, adding heart and rainbow emojis and the hashtag, ‘#loveislove’.

She is the latest queer star to speak out about whether roles should be cast by sexuality. 

Russell T Davies, who was behind Doctor Who’s 2005 revival, sparked a debate in 2021 when he claimed that directors must cast gay men to play gay male roles because you ‘wouldn’t black someone up’ in the modern day.

He insisted he was ‘not being woke about this’ and said the idea of ‘acting gay’ is just a ‘bunch of codes for a performance’ and is not authentic.

Queer as Folk, about the lives of three men in Manchester, was Russell’s first gay TV drama – and he cast straight actors in the role.

Actor Alan Davies starred as a gay teacher in Russell T Davies’s hit 2001 show Bob & Rose, while his 2018 miniseries A Very English Scandal featured Hugh Grant, who is straight, playing Liberal politician Jeremy Thorpe.

Russell’s 2015 series Cucumber, and its companion show Banana, also saw straight actors Freddie Fox and Vincent Franklin in gay roles.

Russell later doubled down on his comments as he urged Hollywood stars to turn down gay roles in films and instead encourage producers to instead cast an LGBT actor.

Speaking on Damian Barr’s Literary Salon, Russell said he ‘genuinely regrets’ if he upset actors who are playing gay roles with his comments in January.

But he added: ‘The problem is if you’re a famous actor, let’s look at the famous ones, and I mean movie star levels, I think now, I’ve gone on the attack, if you’re a movie star level, you’ve got money, you’re fine, you’re going to get lots of offers.

‘I think if you get offered a film in a gay role, you should turn it down, and you should take those production companies by the hand and say ‘I’ve got a lot of clout, I’ve got a lot of people, come with me to raise money over here, and I will help you get a gay person into the leading roles’.

‘Because the problem is, if you don’t start at the bottom with young kids, like the cast of It’s A Sin – I’m looking at the top now, because the truth is there are no leading gay men or leading gay women who can finance the production, and there never will be unless those straight actors step aside.

‘If they don’t, and they’ve got to – use your power, say ‘I’ll have a supporting role’, get this person here who should be in lead roles – they don’t exist, the famous leading lesbians, the famous leading gay men, they don’t exist to lead blockbusters.’

He added that this then sees the industry ‘caught in a loop’, because ‘people will stop making gay productions’ if leading straight actors are turning down gay roles ‘because it’s all about money’.

Last year, Andrew Scott discussed his experience of being cast as gay characters as a gay actor.

The Irish actor, 47, starred in gay love story All Of Us Strangers alongside heterosexual actor Paul Mescal, 27.

Andrew has been openly gay for over a decade and is known for his roles in the likes of Spectre, Sherlock and Fleabag.

And director Andrew Haigh was ‘determined’ to cast a gay actor in the role of Adam, with Andrew ultimately being cast.

In an interview with Screen Daily, Andrew discussed the relationship between casting and sexuality, revealing he ‘never thought’ he would get the opportunity to play leading roles.

He said: ‘I remember growing up and reading Empire magazine and thinking I would never get a chance to play leading roles in the cinema. And I am thrilled that has changed.

‘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 — 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.’

Director Haigh has also said he doesn’t believe that only gay actors should play gay characters.

He said: ‘I’m not one of those people who thinks you have to cast a queer actor in a queer role.

‘But for this role, I did want to because I was trying to unpick some nuances of a certain generation of gay people.’

Welsh actor Luke Evans, who is gay, said he has only played gay characters twice in his career so far and would have hardly worked if actors were cast based on their sexual orientation. 

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in 2022, the film star was asked about his thoughts on Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies saying only gay people should play gay parts.

Luke replied: ‘I’m not sure about that. Gay people have definitely missed out on gay roles, for sure. Russell spoke very powerfully, passionately, about this point. I get it, and I totally think that things do need to change.

‘But from my perspective: firstly, I wouldn’t have had a career if gay people played gay roles and straight people played straight roles. I’d have played two roles out of the 36 projects I’ve worked on, or whatever [the number] is.’

Expanding on his view, Luke said it should be that ‘the right person gets the job. Talent and ability, and a bit of luck and timing … That should be the reason why you get a job. It shouldn’t have anything to do with anything else.’

Elsewhere in her interview, Rebel revealed she would now be strong enough to walk away from the alleged ‘degrading’ treatment she claims she suffered at the hands of Sacha Baron Cohen.

She said she allowed herself to be ‘degraded’ by the British comedian because she lacked the self-esteem to stand up for herself when they acted together in the 2016 film Grimsby.

Rebel – who has said that earlier in her career she was often cast as the ‘fat, funny girl’ – told presenter Lauren: ‘That was the worst professional experience and that was where it crossed the line.

‘It wasn’t comedy. It just crossed the line into an experience where I did feel humiliated and degraded for being an overweight woman.’

She continues: ‘Even though at the time I reported it, nothing really happened.

‘I stayed in a situation and had things said to me and stuff that I should have left. The me now would be strong enough, but back then I just didn’t have enough self-esteem to leave and I thought I’d be labelled as unprofessional if I left.’

In Grimsby, which was a failure at the box office, Baron Cohen played a feckless football hooligan called Nobby who has 11 children with his partner Dawn, Wilson’s role. The film also starred Mark Strong as Nobby’s unlikely brother.

In her recent memoir Rebel Rising, Wilson accused the Ali G and Borat actor of pressuring her into doing a nude scene and making her wear clothes that showed her in the most unflattering light. 

He is also alleged to have bullied her and asked her to stick her finger up his ‘b**t’.

Baron Cohen, who co-wrote and produced the film, has denied all of Wilson’s claims.

The actress does not make any specific allegations. But she does say she has no regrets about telling her story ‘in one way to release the shame that I had sustained in a situation that wasn’t great.’

She added: ‘I guess it’s a final release of the emotions of it, and if it can help a few people out there then it’s worth it.’