Fans Poke Fun at Heartland Star's Take on Representation: 'Aliens Should Play Aliens'
Aidan Moreno believes that LGBTQ+ characters should be played by LGBTQ+ actors.
Debates about certain types of actors playing certain types of characters flare up every now and then. And recently, Aidan Moreno, who plays Rick Adderly in the Netflix comedy-drama Heartland, has weighed in on the matter.
According to Moreno, LGBTQ+ characters in movies and TV shows should be played by LGBTQ+ actors.
In his opinion, "we're at a place where we should step aside and let gay and trans represent their own community through their own voice."
Moreno, who is gay himself, also portrays an openly gay character, Rick, on the TV series Heartland.
He believes this helps representation on "every level" and advocates for LGBTQ+ actors to be as involved as possible in playing their characters to avoid "playing a stereotype."
Fans have found such a statement rather odd. It is literally the job of actors to portray characters different from themselves, and the division Moreno proposes would only backfire spectacularly, according to them.
They wonder if he means that if straight actors would only play straight characters, gay actors would only be allowed to play gay characters.
Fans find his logic extremely flawed and joke that in that case aliens should be played by aliens or vampires by real vampires.
And indeed, there are many examples of straight actors playing convincing gay characters and vice versa. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal killed it with their performances in Brokeback Mountain, as did Colin Firth in A Single Man.
And Neil Patrick Harris brilliantly portrayed the iconic straight womanizer Barney Stinson in the TV series How I Met Your Mother.
So perhaps it is indeed wiser to stop adding restrictions and cast actors for their talent rather than some other trait that is not essential for their craft.
Sources: Daily Mail, Reddit