Suranne Jones Asks People to Think Intelligently Before Criticising Straight Actors Playing Gay Roles

Suranne Jones, who plays Anne Lister in the new BBC drama Gentleman Jack, has asked for people to think “more intelligently” before singling out straight actors for playing LGBT+ roles, reports the Telegraph.

“Actors are just the face of a project. On this job, there were a lot of gay, lesbian and straight people giving their input, and I think people forget that when they point the finger at actors and say that only straight actors should play straight parts,” Jones said while promoting Gentleman Jack.

“No-one ever points the finger at directors and writers, which I find odd. I think that’s because we’re the face.

“If people thought about it a little more intelligently, the question wouldn’t come up so much.”

Anne Lister is often thought of as the first “modern lesbian”. Her diaries written in 1791 were discovered and published in the 1980s, depicting some of the earliest accounts of women having affairs with other women.

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