In a new interview with Variety, Kristen Stewart, who stars in the upcoming Hulu LGBTQ-themed holiday movie Happiest Season (premiering tomorrow) weighs in on the debate over straight actors playing gay roles.
Said Stewart: “I think about this all the time. Being somebody who has had so much access to work, I’ve just lived with such a creative abundance. You know, a young white girl who was straight and only really was gay later and is, like, skinny — do you know what I’m saying? I so acknowledge that I’ve just gotten to work.”
“I would never want to tell a story that really should be told by somebody who’s lived that experience,” Stewart added. “Having said that, it’s a slippery slope conversation because that means I could never play another straight character if I’m going to hold everyone to the letter of this particular law. I think it’s such a gray area. There are ways for men to tell women’s stories, or ways for women to tell men’s stories. But we need to have our finger on the pulse and actually have to care. You kind of know where you’re allowed. I mean, if you’re telling a story about a community and they’re not welcoming to you, then f**k off. But if they are, and you’re becoming an ally and a part of it and there’s something that drove you there in the first place that makes you uniquely endowed with a perspective that might be worthwhile, there’s nothing wrong with learning about each other. And therefore helping each other tell stories. So I don’t have a sure-shot answer for that.”
“I will say, Mackenzie [Davis, Stewart’s co-star] is not somebody who identifies as a lesbian,” Stewart continued. “She was the only person in my mind that could have played this with me. Sometimes, artfully speaking, you’re just drawn to a certain group of people. I could defend that, but I’m sure that somebody with a different perspective could make me feel bad about that — and then make me renege on everything I’ve just said. I acknowledge the world that we live in. And I absolutely would never want to traipse on someone else’s opportunity to do that — I would feel terrible about that.”
“So my answer is f**king think about what you’re doing!” Stewart concluded. “And don’t be an a**hole.”
Read her full interview HERE. And watch the trailer for Happiest Season, which also stars Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Daniel Levy, Mary Holland, Burl Moseley, Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen, below.
