Actor Viggo Mortensen has again defended his decision to play a gay man in his directorial debut, Falling, which deals with a family’s dementia-stricken patriarch, who is also racist and homophobic.
Said Mortensen in an interview with The Times of London: “Look, these are the times we’re living in, and I think it’s healthy that those issues are brought up. The short answer is that I didn’t think it was a problem. And people then ask me, ‘Well what about Terry Chen,’ who plays my husband in the film, ‘is he a homosexual?’ And the answer is I don’t know, and I would never have the temerity to ask someone if they were, during the casting process. And how do you know what my life is? You’re assuming that I’m completely straight. Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. And it’s frankly none of your business. … I want my movie to work, and I want the character of John to be effective. So if I didn’t think it was a good idea, I wouldn’t do it.”
