Jack Whitehall has received backlash online after news broke that he’d been cast as Disney’s first major gay character in Jungle Cruise.
The comedian wrote that he was “honoured” to be a part of the 2019 film, and it was later reported that he would be playing an openly gay man.
The news has led some people to ask why a gay actor wasn’t cast for the role.
“Could they seriously not pick someone actually gay?” one person tweeted.
Others have argued that hiring gay actors to exclusively play gay roles is “typecasting”.
Jungle Cruise, which is based on a Disney theme park ride of the same name, is due to be released in October 2019.
Jack announced that he’d be joining co-stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt on Instagram.
Jack’s role is rumoured to be “hugely effete, very camp and very funny” and some people have argued that having a straight man act like this is “perpetuating stereotypes”.
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