Rebel Wilson Dismisses Concerns Around Straight Actors Playing Gay Roles: 'Total Nonsense'

"Bridesmaids" star Rebel Wilson came out against suggestions that queer roles need to be reserved for LGBTQ+ actors, calling that idea "total nonsense," UK newspaper the Guardian reported.

The Australian comedian ventured into the topic when she was asked by a radio host whether "women can get away with different jokes compared with men," the newspaper detailed.

Wilson replied to the host, Lauren Laverne of BBC Radio 4, that she has "definitely said a lot of edgy jokes, and said them sometimes in very public places like the Baftas," the UK awards show that is Britain's equivalent to the Oscars.

"Yeah I don't think there's a different standard..." Wilson said. She continued: "...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.... it's not really gendered."

Wilson then compared what she was talking about with the controversy around straight and cisgender actors taking roles that portray queer people.

"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," the "What to Expect when You're Expecting" actor went on to say.

"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," Wilson continued. "Sometimes you do step over it but, at the end of the day, you are trying to entertain people."

Those who posit that only queer actors should play queer roles point to how awards have historically gone to straight actors who, unlike decades ago, now accept LGBTQ+ roles and win acclaim. Jared Leto, for instance, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a transgender woman dying of AIDS in the 2013 film "Dallas Buyers Club."

More recently, Brendan Fraser won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in 2022's "The Whale," Darren Aronofsky's film adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter's play. Fraser played a gay man in terminally declining health in that film.

Others, such as out "Queer as Folk" and "It's a Sin" writer Russell T. Davies, say that queer actors bring a greater level of authenticity to their work when they portray queer characters.

But some disagree. Gay actor Sir Ian McKellen noted that an actor's job is essentially portraying people they are not, and discussed LGBTQ+ actors playing straight and cisgender characters.