Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Viggo Mortensen is defending his role as a gay man in his new film “Falling,” suggesting that he might not be “completely straight.”
The “Lord of the Rings” star responded to criticism of straight men playing gay characters in a recent interview with the British newspaper The Times.
“Falling,” Mortensen’s directorial debut — which he also wrote — tells the story of a gay man’s relationship with his homophobic father Willis (Lance Henriksen), who moves from his rural farm to live with his son’s family in Los Angeles after a dementia diagnosis.
The 62-year-old Danish-American actor stars as the gay son, John.
Mortensen has previously addressed the issue, telling Reuters last month that his role was not “a gimmick, anchor or some trigger.”
He added that, “there are certain characters I’m not going to play,” such as Eric, his character’s husband in the film, who’s Chinese-Hawaiian American.
“Look, these are the times we’re living in, and I think it’s healthy that those issues are brought up. The short answer is that I didn’t think it was a problem,” he told the Times.
“And people then ask me, ‘Well what about Terry Chen,’ who plays my husband in the film, ‘is he a homosexual?’ And the answer is, ‘I don’t know, and I would never have the temerity to ask someone if they were, during the casting process,'” he added.
“And how do you know what my life is? You’re assuming that I’m completely straight. Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. And it’s frankly none of your business,” Mortensen continued. “I want my movie to work, and I want the character of John to be effective. So if I didn’t think it was a good idea, I wouldn’t do it.”
