Lucas Grabeel has admitted that he’d think twice about playing the role of Ryan Evans if High School Musical was cast today.
Speaking with TMZ, Grabeel – a straight man – suggested that a gay actor should’ve played the role instead, telling the publication that he’d inadvertently “taken opportunities away” from others.
“There’s so many amazingly talented gay actors that could do it as well,” the 35-year-old said, “so if High School Musical was made today… I don’t know if I would play Ryan.”
“I would love to, but… I just don’t know. The last thing that I want to do is take something away – take an opportunity away from other people. And as a straight white man, I know that even without trying I’ve taken opportunities away from people.”
Grabeel’s comments add interesting perspective to the conversation regarding queer actors in queer roles. While some argue that actors should be able to play queer roles regardless of their own sexual orientation, others argue that a straight person in a queer character’s role is merely excluding LGBTQI+ actors from an already-limited pool of offers, given that LGBTQI+ actors can easily be typecast into queer-centric roles only.
Just last week, director Kenny Ortega explained why he hadn’t deemed it feasible for Ryan to be an openly gay character.
“I didn’t think [it would have been possible] at the time,” he’d told Variety, “and Disney is the most progressive group of people I’ve ever worked with.”
“I was concerned because it was family and kids, that Disney might not be ready to cross that line and move into that territory yet.”
