These Straight Actors Gave Great Performances as LGBTQ+ Characters in 2022
As always, many of the year's best performances came in movies and shows about LGBTQ+ people. We have some of the most compelling lives, so it's not surprising that everyone wants to tell our stories.
While its gotten better in recent years, throughout history, most great gay roles have gone to straight actors, with over a dozen winning Oscars for playing LGBTQ+ characters. Sometimes it can be tiresome seeing straight actors get all of this praise for bringing gay people to life, but other times its truly wonderful.
Here are our ten favorite performances by straight actors playing queer characters in movies and TV from 2022.
RELATED | 11 Straight Actors Who Won Awards for Playing Queer Roles
Brendan Fraser in 'The Whale'
Fraser's big comeback has been centered around his Oscar-frontrunning performance in this movie about a reclusive 600-lbs english teacher who developed an eating disorder after the death of his partner. Fraser brings empathy and joy in his performance that balance out some of the less palatable parts of Darren Aronofsky's drama.
Cate Blanchett in ‘Tár’
Once again, Cate Blanchett is going to be nominated for an Oscar for playing an older sophisticated lesbian in a drama. Blanchett truly is a force of nature in the film, establishing herself once again as one of the best actresses of our day. There's no denying Blanchett in this movie.
Chanté Adams and D’Arcy Carden in ‘A League of Their Own’
All of the performances in A League of Their Own were perfection, and these two straight actors still managed to stand out. As the flirty and strong-willed bombshell Greta, Carden became an immediate lesbian icon, and as the gender-nonconforming pitcher Max, Adams won over all of our hearts. These two characters couldn't be more different, but they both lifted the show to great heights.
Evan Peters in ‘Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’
While the show was fairly criticized, Peters really was spot on in his performance of the horrible and terrifying serial killer. It's not a performance that we want to revisit, but it's certainly one we'll never forget.
Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid in ‘Interview With The Vampire’
These two had the most chemistry of a gay couple played by straights since Brokeback Mountain! As delightfully amoral vampires in love with each other, they brought the sex, the strife, and the seduction to this steamy AMC show.
Kayvan Novak in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’
Acting opposite Harvey Guillen can never be easy, but Novak does so masterfully. The two of them have a superb back-and-forth, and Novak's gleeful bull-in-a-china-shop approach to life is the perfect foil to Guillermo's constantly-worried careful point of view.
Rhys Darby in ‘Our Flag Means Death’
Our Flag Means Death could've been just a goofy pirate comedy, but guided by Darby's hilarious and heartbreaking performance as a man discovering love for the first time. We can't wait to see what Darby does with the character in the next season.
Sabrina Impacciatore in ‘The White Lotus’
It's impossible to not fall in love with Impacciatore's bitchy and bossy Italian hotel manager. While she spends most of her time at work yelling at men who flirt with the desk clerk she's crushing on and rudely telling guests that she can't help them, Victoria is secretly holding a deep secret: she's gay, but has never been with a woman. We rooted for her all season long.
Stephanie Hsu in ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’
The best movie of the year was centered around a relationship between a mother and her gay daughter. Hsu is excellent as both the daughter and an alternative universe version of her who's a nihilist supervillain. She's able to bring weight to both scenes where she struggles to relate to her family and ones where she's wearing an explosion of colors and turning people into glitter.
Boyd Holbrook in ‘Sandman’
Boyd Holbrook gave us the gay villain we've been waiting for this year. As the serial killer and literal nightmare The Corinthian, Holbrook was both charming and unsettling. We couldn't help but find ourselves obsessed with this blond drifter as he traveled across America sleeping with men and killing them.
