A row has broken out on social media after reports that Jack Whitehall will play the first major openly gay character in a Disney film.
Whitehall announced on Instagram that he was working on Jungle Cruise, a film based on the Disney theme park ride of the same name, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. Whitehall is to play the brother of Blunt’s character, and according to a report in the Sun, “he is playing a gay man – one who is hugely effete, very camp and very funny”.
If Scarlett Johansson wasn’t allowed to play a trans man then Jack Whitehall shouldn’t be allowed to play a gay man. Especially so when you consider there are absolute hundreds of out gay men in Hollywood who are better actors than him
— Sophie WilkINson (@sophwilkinson) August 13, 2018
With many social media users referencing the recent controversy that resulted in Scarlett Johansson withdrawing from a role as a trans man in Rub & Tug, much of the protest centred around the handing of a pioneering role to a non-gay actor. Another point of contention was the suggestion that Whitehall would play a “camp” and “effete” character.
Really @Disney #JungleCruise ? Your first significant gay role will be played by a straight white man perpetuating stereotypes? Fail! This ship should sink. https://t.co/npPESNZaxD
— Omar Sharif Jr. (@OmarSharifJr) August 13, 2018
If confirmed, Whitehall’s role would not be the first gay role in a Disney film – 2017’s Beauty and the Beast contained “an exclusively gay moment”.