Heartland star Aidan Moreno believes ‘a gay guy should play a gay guy’ on screen
Heartland’s Aidan Moreno says it’s time for straight actors to ‘step aside’ from LGBTQ+ roles. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Heartland star Aidan Moreno has said that he believes it is more authentic if LGBTQ+ actors play queer roles.
Moreno, who plays gay mayor’s assistant Rick Adderly in the long-running Canadian comedy-drama, joins the dozens of actors, including Cate Blanchett, who have waded into the discussion of who should play LGBTQ+ roles in films and on TV.
The British actor says his own view is that LGBTQ+ characters should be portrayed using “their own voice”.
“I’m leaning towards a gay guy should play a gay guy”, he told the Daily Mail.
“This is a weird one because I understand how some characters need a straight actor because it adds more of a platform and focus to gay stories.
“I think we are in a place where they should step aside and let gay and trans people represent their own community through their own voice. Otherwise you’re playing a stereotype and it won’t be authentic, which, in this day and age, it needs to be.”
Moreno added that he felt the same about “any minority”, and that if a “straight white man at the top” writes the script, it will always come from a “straight white man’s lens”.
Moreno explained that playing Rick on Heartland – the first LGBTQ+ character in the show’s 16-year history – has left him vulnerable to homophobic comments.
“It was really hard at first but I think I’ve built up such a tough skin from my background of growing up on a council estate in the Midlands,” he said.
“’It made the experience very difficult reading the comments because I love social media and interacting with the majority of the show’s fans, but I couldn’t separate myself from the character.
“When people attack Rick, they are attacking the entire LGBTQ+ community… they are saying ‘you are not accepted’.
“It is such a shame and it’s surprising it still exists. I really thought we had come so much further.”
Moreno added that Heartland fans will see a more vulnerable side to his character in the upcoming series, including meeting Rick’s husband, and the possibility of them adopting a child.
Heartland season 16 will be released on Netflix in the UK on 17 May.
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