He continued, "I really do believe an actor is an actor is an actor. You're supposed to play different people. You just are. That's the whole point of it."

He continued, "The whole point of Philadelphia was don't be afraid. One of the reasons people weren't afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man. We're beyond that now, and I don't think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy. It's not a crime, it's not boohoo, that someone would say we are going to demand more of a movie in the modern realm of authenticity. Do I sound like I'm preaching? I don't mean to."

On the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, he said, "In regards to my tweets, I just think that there's a danger with things on social media. In the cast, I'm 18, and we have a few people in their early 20s and even with those older members of the cast, we're all so young, and to start speculating about our sexualities and maybe pressuring us to come out when maybe we're not ready. I mean, for me, I just feel like I'm perfectly confident and comfortable in my sexuality, but I'm not too big on labels and things like that. I'm not massive about that. And I don't feel like I need to label myself, especially not publicly. That tweet was slightly calling them out but [I] also find it funny...It's 2022, it feels a bit strange to make assumptions about a person's sexuality just based on hearing their voice or seeing their appearance. I feel like that's a very interesting, slightly problematic, sort of assumption to make."

She continued, "I think reality television and all that that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character. I think it provides a lot of opportunity, but the downside of it is that we now, particularly in America, I think, we expect and only expect people to make a profound connection to a character when its close to their experience."

She continued, "I think we'd be in a weird place if only gay people could play gay people, and straight people could only straight people. personally love Greys Anatomy, so if they had to fire everyone and hire real doctors oy vey!"

She continued, "It can be as big as the writing or as simple as these two girls do not look like they like kissing each other. It just makes you feel horrible."

However, he added, "On the other hand, I think there needs to be greater equality. I would like to see more gay actors playing straight roles. It needs to be an even playing field for everybody that would be my ideal. I don't know how far we're away from that. That's where we should be aiming."

Continuing, he said that playing queer characters had "been a real joy," but he no longer felt comfortable taking those parts.

He said, "The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience. It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people."

He continued, "I also feel slightly like, is this a thing where our dance card has to be public? Do we have to explain all our private moments in our sexual history? I don't think so. Jane [Campion, the director] chose us as actors to play those roles. That's her question to answer."

She continued, "Sebastian [Leliothe director/co-writer] isn't a gay woman. He has a trans woman play a trans woman in A Fantastic Woman, but he said he's allowed to be disobedient and cast who he wants, I guess. I don't know what to say beyond that. It's about becoming and representing someone else. I'm not anyone that I play, otherwise, I'd just be in a documentary."

He added, "If you want someone to play a disabled role, that should be a disabled actor."

She continued, "We need to give real representation to people, but I'm grateful for all of the experiences that I've had as an actor because my job is to communicate a universality of experience to the world. The idea that, rather than othering people, we're saying we're all the same. Our humanity is shared."

He also played Stephanie, a trans woman, on an episode of Ally McBeal that won an Emmy.

He said, "I also know that had a trans person played that role, they would have brought their own innate authenticity to it and infused it with more truth than I could have better understood at that time, or now. But I feel very strongly that none of us should be playing trans roles except for trans people."

He continued, "I think resilience is going out the window, which is a shame. People love to be offended, which is a really offensive thing to say. Somebody is going to be offended by me saying that."

He also said, "There's an insanity about the casting the whole idea of acting is to understand the 'other.' Actors perform a role, which is to illuminate the other not to illuminate themselves."

He later added, "The whole time, I was thinking about the friends of mine, young friends of mine whose families don't know that they're out, friends of mine who have distant relationships with their families, because of their sexuality and really hope that many people would realize that however hard it is to address or confront those things, their acceptance is everything."

He continued, "We shouldn't be fascinated that a straight man can play gay anymore. There's nothing mind blowing about that anymore. It's been done. I'd like everyone to just be treated equally, to see people look at you and accept you for who you are as a human being and your spirit."

She continued, "There are ways for men to tell women's stories, or ways for women to tell men's stories. But we need to have our finger on the pulse and actually have to care. You kind of know where you're allowed. I mean, if you're telling a story about a community and theyre not welcoming to you, then fuck off. But if they are, and you're becoming an ally and a part of it and there's something that drove you there in the first place that makes you uniquely endowed with a perspective that might be worthwhile, there's nothing wrong with learning about each other. And therefore helping each other tell stories...So my answer is fucking think about what you're doing! And don't be an asshole."

He continued, "But at the same time, I was very proud to be in that space, and to be given that opportunity. And the reaction from the majority of the gay community when the movie came out, I got this sort of we both did, everyone in the movie we got this overwhelming sense of open-heartedness and gratitude."

He also said, "Any role where the character's sexuality is their defining characteristic I turn down. Which means I don't work very much. Or, at least, nowhere near as much as I'd like to."

He continued, "Those are conversations we had early when looking for the roles and everybody was on the same page, by the way. But I was very clear I wanted to make sure everyone knew how much harder my job would be if I was doing interviews with a straight person talking about gay love. If I'm talking about that with some straight guy, and then the narrative is all like, 'You were so convincing!' like, come on, give me a break. We've done that, we're tired of that, we don't need that anymore."