Corden has faced some strong backlash for his portrayal of a gay character in the new movie.
“Meryl Streep in The Prom deserves better than starring alongside James Corden who is offensively playing every gay stereotype! There are incredible LGBTQIA+ actors that should have been casted for this role.”
That is the statement that Jedward put out on social media late on Sunday night in reference to Netflix’s new musical, The Prom, which was added to their streaming library on Friday.
Corden’s performance has once again brought forward the debate of whether straight actors should play non-straight characters, but his character is also being blasted for leaning heavily into gay stereotypes.
As LGBTQI+ writer Zack Sharf wrote for Indiewire: “The Prom shouts about tolerance but has James Corden leaning into effeminate gay stereotypes every chance he gets. Someone make it make sense?”
Corden has yet to publicly respond to the backlash, but his The Prom co-star Andrew Rannells has come to his defence, telling Attitude Magazine the following:
“You know, I kinda I go back and forth about this. Obviously, representation is very important, but what I feel that [director Ryan Murphy] does so well is, you know, it’s the best person for the job, quite frankly.
“In the same way that James can play the gay character, he’s also given me an opportunity to play a straight character, which is not something I do all the time.
“As much as he takes [an actor’s sexuality] into consideration, I think ultimately he’s looking for talent and parts, and he’s given me the opportunity to play this part which maybe another director wouldn’t have cast me in, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
The Prom is available to watch on Netflix right now.
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