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Jeremy Pope Quit A Big Film After Director Made Discriminatory Remarks
The actor opened up on what was said to him that made him walk.
The conversation surrounding whether or not only queer actors should be cast in queer roles can’t happen without discussing the reluctance Hollywood still so frequently has when it comes to casting queer actors in straight roles.
Jeremy Pope is opening up about a negative experience he had dealing with such a situation, which ultimately led him to his role as a gay marine in A24’s The Inspection last year.
The actor recently told Variety that he was initially supposed to be shooting a different project at the time — a lead role in a studio film he declined to name, but that he said would have opened doors for him.
“But I got into an interesting conversation with the director where he basically said I didn’t have the ability to connect with a female character because I was gay,” he recalled.
Finding actors that have the right chemistry with one another for certain roles can be challenging for directors, but someone’s sexuality rarely has anything to do with it, as long as they are skilled at their job. Saying otherwise would be insinuating that actors genuinely have to be attracted to every single person they interact with romantically in a film or TV show for it to work — and that straight actors always are — both of which are ludicrous suggestions.
“In the moment, I was negotiating how to defend myself. But at the end of the day, that spoke so much more to where he was at and his journey in life versus who I am or what I know I bring to a project,” Pope added. “I had to choose myself and serve myself and say I can’t be in an environment that doesn’t support and pour into me the way I’m going to support and pour into it.”
So he walked away. And only “hours after that” got word about The Inspection, which wound up being a much better fit.
“It means everything to me to know I was [director Elegance Bratton’s] first choice. That trust I felt from him was so important,” he said. “His trust in me and my trust in him as a storyteller was so special and I will always be grateful to him for that opportunity.”
Jeremy Pope initially gained attention for his stage work, then broke into Hollywood with roles in Hollywood and Pose.
Pope was born July 9, 1992.
Pope is initially from Orlando, Florida.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
