During an interview about his new film Under the Silver Lake, actor Andrew Garfield told the UK’s Independent that he gets why people are upset that many LGBTQ roles go to straight actors but agrees with Angels in America playwright Tony Kushner on the issue: “I understand the complaint. I think Tony Kushner put it best. He said, ‘It’s illegal for me to ask someone who they f**k in terms of hiring them for a job. That’s none of my business who someone sleeps with. The only question I have as the playwright is, are they right for this character?’ He said that if we only let people play who they are, then it’s the death of empathic imagination. I think that’s beautifully put, and I agree with it.”
Garfield also added that “taking such a role means potentially taking it away from an LGBTQ person. The community has suffered so much oppression. As a straight, white male, with so much privilege in this world, I believe my job right now is to pay attention, to listen and to be an ally.”
Read Garfield’s full interview HERE.
