First it was Cheno and now Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Urie are calling out Newsweek writer Ramin Setoodeh who criticized gay actors playing straight characters!
Both actors attended the talk-back Monday night of off-Broadway play The Temperamentals and spoke out about the article. Jackson said:
├óΓé¼┼ôIt was infuriating on so many levels. Not only does [Setoodeh] say that a gay man can’t play straight, he got personal, picking on Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises, [pointing out] certain scenes where he thinks [Sean] is stiff and uncomfortable. And then he picks on Jonathan Groff, who just came out. He’s a young teen heartthrob [in Glee]. He’s so talented and so delicious and needs our love and support. Instead, [Setoodeh] says he’s not believable at all. It was very veiled self-loathing. Really upsetting.
├óΓé¼┼ôEvery time we go forward, some asshole like this takes us back a bit. I was really glad that Kristin Chenoweth wrote what she did [in defense of her Promises, Promises costar Sean Hayes and other openly gay actors]. She sent it to me before it went out and about. I was very proud of her. For me to stand up and say, ‘Fuck you,’ that’s what you’d expect. But for someone like Kristin, she stands up for what she believes in and is very committed.├óΓé¼┬¥
YES! And Michael Urie chimed in as well to say:
├óΓé¼┼ôLook, I’m not from fucking Vienna. We’re all actors, and the audiences get it. When I saw Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises, it was a full house and everyone was completely in love with him. And I saw it at a Wednesday matinee full of tourists. They’ve all seen Sean in Will & Grace, and they loved him and believed in his relationship with Kristin. It worked.
├óΓé¼┼ôAnd to attack, to quote Ugly Betty, someone [like Groff] recently ‘hatched from the gay egg’ is unconscionable and he should be strung [up]. [Groff] made everyone want him in Spring Awakening. And Cheyenne was fucking Elvis in All Shook Up. He was sexy and hot. He’s always playing straight. And people buy tickets to see him. No straight critics accuse Sean Penn of not being able to play Harvey Milk or [criticize] Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.├óΓé¼┬¥
Cheyenne added:
”That’s because when straight actors play gay, they’re so ‘brave.’ Why is it so fucking ‘brave’? It’s a part and he’s a good actor. I hope we can get to the day where the best actor gets the part. End of story.”
WOWSA! We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
Who else is going to speak up?!
[Image via WENN.]