Disney is Finally Having Its First Gay Movie Character, But There's A Catch

From Seventeen

Disney has finally announced its first openly gay film character, but they decided to cast a straight actor in the role.

It was announced that Disney casted British comedian Jack Whitehall in the role as Lily's brother, who will be openly gay, in Jungle Cruise. The movie also stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt, who will be playing Lily.

Jack is straight and was recently linked to Crazy Rich Asians star Gemma Chan, but they broke up in December after 6 years together due to busy schedules, according to The Sun.

Twitter erupted with anger after the big announcement. A lot of people were surprised to hear about the casting choice, especially since Hollywood had been recently met with backlash over straight actors getting cast in the few gay roles that are currently available.

"Really @Disney #JungleCruise ? Your first significant gay role will be played by a straight white man perpetuating stereotypes? Fail! This ship should sink."

"Super excited about this huge moment for the LGBTQ+ family, and @jackwhitehall is amazing https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/jack-whitehall-gay/ … BUT when so many gay actor friends of mine are turned down for straight roles because there’s a 'whiff of gay,' it’s frustrating to cast NonGay people in gay roles."

"Do the right thing @jackwhitehall. Resign - then ask that a gay man have the chance to play the role. Be an ally not an impersonator..."

"Wow, @Disney couldn’t find ANY gay actors in Hollywood to play the first openly gay character in their new film?!?!

Don’t get me wrong, @JackWhitehall is a cutie, BUT HE’S STRAIGHT!

This is a huge problem in Hollywood, let gay actors play gay roles!"

Others have posted their support of Jack's casting, saying that they’re just happy Disney will depict an openly gay man in a film.

"As a gay man I love the fact that Jack Whitehall will play Disney's first openly gay character! I love it, I love it! All the naysayers like omar sherif jr. can just shut up!"

"I actually don’t mind Jack Whitehall - he’s bit of an overprivileged prick but he was very funny in Bad Education. I mean it would be better I guess if it was a gay actor, but the inclusion of the character is still progress. The real problem is there aren’t many out gay actors."

"Ngl i don’t understand the outrage with Jack Whitehall being cast as a gay character. Since when are roles cast based on someone’s sexuality? Obviously never it’s based on someone’s acting."

According to GLAAD, LGBTQ representation in films by major studios has dropped since last year. Only 14 films in the past year have included an LGBTQ character, 9 less than the year before. With already a small amount of representation in movies, a straight person playing a gay character is a pretty big deal.

Disney still has not responded to the controversy and Jungle Cruise is currently in production, according to their recent teaser.

Tamara Fuentes is the Entertainment Editor at Seventeen.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram!

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