Yahoo Movies Julianna Margulies stands by playing an LGBTQ+ character on The Morning Show : 'We're actors'
It's been a much-debated topic in Hollywood: Should cisgender heterosexual actors play LGBTQ+ characters?
Over the years, many actors have joined the conversation. In 2018, Darren Criss vowed to no longer take roles portraying LGBTQ+ characters, telling Bustle, "I want to make sure I won't be another straight boy taking a gay man's role."
In 2020, James Corden came under fire for playing a gay character in The Prom, and Halle Berry backed out of playing a transgender man following backlash. Berry wrote on Twitter that "the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories."
Recently, with The Power of the Dog, Benedict Cumberbatch spoke out on the topic, telling IndieWire his casting "wasn't done without thought." He then added, "I also feel slightly like, is this a thing where our dance card has to be public? Do we have to explain all our private moments in our sexual history? I don't think so."
Apple TV+ Reese Witherspoon and Julianna Margulies on 'The Morning Show'
And now Julianna Margulies is weighing in. After joining season 2 of Apple TV+'s The Morning Show, Margulies' character, Laura Peterson, has become romantically involved with Reese Witherspoon's Bradley Jackson.
On CBS Mornings Monday, Margulies spoke about the ways in which she relates to Laura, saying, "It could be my age now maybe, but you get to a place in your life, and I think the same thing happened with Laura, where you go: 'This is who I am, take it or leave it, I'm not interested in pretending, I have no skeletons in my closet, I'm not hiding. I'm telling the truth and if you don't like it I guess then you're not in my orbit.'"
When asked specifically to respond to the people who feel that actors in the LGBTQ+ community might be able to better portray a character in that community, Margulies said, "I can understand that. My response also would be we're all making assumptions as to who I am and what my past is and what all of our pasts are."
The ER and The Good Wife alum continued, "I understand 100 percent that I can't play a different race, but I am an actress and I am supposed to embody another character, whatever their sexuality is doesn't matter to me. Are you telling me that because I'm a mother I can never play a woman who's never had a child? Or if you've never been married that you can't play a married woman? You have to be careful on where you're drawing the line there. We're actors, we're supposed to embody a character regardless of their sexuality. When it comes to race and gender that's a whole different story and I 100 percent agree with that. So that's my stance on it."
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