Will & Grace star weighs in on straight actors playing gay roles: “It’s part of the gig”

Eric McCormack, who played gay lawyer Will Truman in sit-com Will & Grace for 11 seasons, weighs in on debate

Actor Eric McCormack shot to fame playing a gay man on Will & Grace (Isabel Infantes/PA) (PA Archive)

Will & Grace star Eric McCormack has weighed in on the debate regarding straight actors being cast in gay roles.

The actor, who plays gay lawyer Will Truman across 11 seasons of the sitcom, was asked where he stood during an interview on Thursday’s episode of ITV’s Good Morning Britain (18 March).

McCormack described the subject as a “tough” topic, stating: “There’s no part I’ve ever played where I wasn’t playing something I’m not. It’s part of the gig.”

The star, who shares a son with actor Janet Holden, said: “If gay actors weren’t allowed to play straight actors, Broadway would be over.”

He added: “I’d like to think that I represent it well, you know, literally, I came from the theatre, and every one of my best friends was a gay man.

“So I think I took their spirit and their message in what was otherwise just a sitcom and, represented it, I hope.”

McCormack’s views have been echoed by other actors, including Stanley Tucci and Kristen Stewart who described the debate as “a grey area”. However, in 2018, Glee’s Darren Criss vowed to avoid LGBT+ roles altogether.

When asked if he could get the Will & Grace role today, the Canadian-born actor said: “Well I guess the answer would be, they’d have to say in the casting room: ‘And you’re gay, right?’ But they don’t think they can say (that).

“So I still think as you say, it’s hypothetical. I would like to think in general that the best person for the role, the one that comes in and knocks it out of the park, is the one that gets the part.”

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In 2018, when he was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he said he was grateful to the LGBTQ community “for the rest of my life” for accepting him in the role

He is set to make his West End debut in the musical Wild About You at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in March.

Will & Grace returned for three series from 2017 to 2020 with the original members Megan Mullally, who plays rich neighbour Karen Walker, and Sean Hayes, who plays Will’s flamboyant friend Jack McFarland, also returning.

The American comedy series has been celebrated for the portrayal of gay characters and attracted big name stars including Sir Elton John and Madonna.

Hayes, who did not come out publicly until 2010, told Playbill in 2016 that the acting industry is different if you are LGBT+ actor, saying Hollywood “shouldn’t be fascinated that a straight man can play gay any more”.

He also said: “(Straight actors) could play gay and be adored and worshipped for it, and I thought, ‘Oh. I’ll just do that. If I just do a good job, I’ll be accepted as an actor, and then I’ll just keep playing any role.

“But Hollywood doesn’t work that way, and audiences don’t work that way because there’s a stipulation that goes with audiences where if they see a gay person playing straight, they go: ‘Yeah right.’”