Benedict Cumberbatch Awkwardly Defends His Decision To Play Another Gay Character

There’s no question that diversity has become a must in every movie that is made in Hollywood these days. Now though that we are seeing more and more gay characters in movies there’s a push to cast actors that identify with those sexual preferences. Rather than casting straight actors in these roles. Because of this, Doctor Strange’sBenedict Cumberbatch has found himself in the awkward position of having to defend the fact he is a straight actor who keeps taking on gay roles, with his character in "The Power of Dog" being the latest of controversy.   

Last week there was a big story about Sarah Paulson who wore a fat suit for her new character in the FX series Impeachment. She came out and said that she wouldn’t be doing that again to ensure the role would go to someone who had that natural look. In light of this, at the Telluride Film Festival, Benedict was basically asked why he’s taking these roles. He mentioned, 

"It wasn't done without thought," while also saying that, "I feel very sensitive about representation, diversity, and inclusion,"    

https://twitter.com/whitewolfrivia/status/1433443727880638467

As the questioning rolls along you can kind of tell that Benedict is getting put into an uncomfortable position. He ultimately ends up having to contradict some of the things that he said. Cumberbatch essentially mentions that he was attracted to the role because of the fact that the character had a lot of “hidden” traits. Kind of like what we saw in The Imitation Game. He goes on to say,

"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."   

The conversation keeps going, and you can tell Benedict is just feeling extremely awkward in the position. To the point where he just literally throws the responsibility onto movie director, Jane Campion. To end the topic he says, 

“[She], chose us as actors to play those roles, that's her question to answer."  

A visibly uncomfortable Cumberbatch would go on to avoid the topic moving forward. The reality though is that this debate about accurate representation in movies is an ongoing one. With many people within the industry as well as, some fans jumping on this bandwagon.  

The film in question titled, “The Power of Dog” is branded as a western movie. Don’t think that they are doing a remake of Brokeback Mountain just because it’s a western with a gay love story. Benedict’s character is the owner of a ranch. Where a widow and her son come to stay for whatever reason. The love story is set to develop between Cumberbatch’s character and the son of the widow! That’s pretty much what we know about the film at this point.    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELvKuuXdfCU