‘The View’: Mario Cantone Blasts Straight Actors Who Take Gay Roles – Decider
During today’s episode of The View, guest co-host Mario Cantone (who regularly appeared on the ABC talk show in the early 2000s) expressed strong feelings about straight actors playing gay roles, and questioned where Hollywood’s openly gay romantic lead was.
The discussion kicked off when the panel asked Cantone about reprising the role of Charlotte’s gay wedding planner, Anthony Marentino, on HBO Max’s upcoming Sex and the City revival, And Just Like That… “Everyone knows I’m playing a real womanizer straight guy,” Cantone joked. “Sorry, heterosexual actors. I’m playing you now.”
The hosts went on to ask him about his feelings about gay actors playing straight characters. “Look, straight people have been playing gay guys forever, and we’ve all had to deal with that,” Cantone said. “Until there’s equal parts… people are like, ‘Well, gay people shouldn’t be able to play straight parts.’ The amount of parts, the balance is way off. So that’s why I would like to see a gay man playing a gay man all the time.”
Cantone then posed a question: “Where is the openly gay movie star leading man, where is he? Name him.”
“When it is a big studio picture, they have to find the star. They’ll do it no matter what,” he continued. “If it’s an independent movie or a low-budget movie, they need to be homosexual men.”
Sara Haines insisted that such an actor is on his way, to which Cantone replied, “I’ll be six feet under when he arrives.”
Guest host Ana Navarro argued that there’s been progress in Hollywood with shows like Pose, which feature multiple trans actresses, as well as popular actor Billy Porter.
“I’m talking about the romantic leading man movie star that’s openly gay, and plays straight men, and plays gay men,” Cantone said. “Where is he?”
Joy Behar posed another question: If an openly gay actor is cast in a straight romantic role, will audiences struggle to suspend their disbelief if they already know the actor is gay?”
“It’s acting!” Cantone responded, while Sunny Hostin chimed in, “We all have to suspend our disbelief.”
The View airs weekdays on ABC at 11/10c.