When appearing on 'Piers Morgan Uncensored', the 'My Best Friend's Wedding' star comments on the backlash towards the 'Lost in Translation' actress that resulted in her dropping the transgender role.
- May 21, 2022
AceShowbiz - Rupert Everett has condemned the "blinkered" backlash that prompted Scarlett Johansson to drop plans to play a transgender role in the new movie "Rub & Tug". When appearing on "Piers Morgan Uncensored", the "My Best Friend's Wedding" star insisted the furore over the "Lost in Translation" actress's role was misguided.
"People forget that Hollywood is a business," the 62-year-old reminded. "So for example, when Scarlett Johansson was stopped from playing a trans role, there simply wasn't a trans actress at that point big enough to sustain a 50-60 million dollar movie."
"I found that was a mistake of the trans community because there were probably lots of other trans roles in the film that would have been played by trans actresses and Scarlett Johansson wasn't going to be doing some portraits that was anti-trans," he added. "So I felt it was slightly blinkered attitude."
Scarlett had been due to portray crime boss Dante "Tex" Gill, who was born Lois Jean Gill but identified as a man. She exited the film project after the casting angered the trans community.
Explaining her decision to quit the project in a statement to Out magazine, the 37-year-old actress stated, "In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project."
"Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance," she further added, "and I've learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive."
During his appearance on "Piers Morgan Uncensored", Rupert also revealed he feels "frustrated" by straight actors winning gay movie roles and feared his career was over when he lost the lead in "A Single Man" to Colin Firth.
The Hollywood star shot to fame playing a gay public school boy in 1984 film "Another Country" opposite Kenneth Branagh, and he has previously admitted he thought going public with his sexuality harmed his Hollywood career.
He opened up about the "frustration" of losing the lead role in Tom Ford's acclaimed 2009 drama which told the story of a depressed gay British university professor in the 1960s. Speaking on Piers' show, he admitted, "It's quite frustrating."
"I was frustrated, I remember going to see Colin Firth in the film by Tom Ford (A Single Man). I thought, 'Well, thanks, Colin, that's the end of my career. Because you know, that role really should have been mine,' " he spilled. "So you know, there's a frustration about that, of course."
Rupert went on to add, "I don't think gay actors should just play the gay roles. I think that the gay actors should be able to play the straight roles too, I think some straight guys played great gay roles."
