Benedict Cumberbatch admits his controversial role as a nonbinary character 'backfired' in 'Zoolander 2'

• Benedict Cumberbatch spoke with Penélope Cruz for Variety's "Actors on Actors" series.
• He said his nonbinary "Zoolander 2" character "backfired" regarding LGBTQ representation.

Benedict Cumberbatch admitted that his portrayal of a non-binary character in "Zoolander 2" has "backfired."

While chatting with Penélope Cruz for Variety's "Actors on Actors" series, Cumberbatch and Cruz recalled working together on the 2016 film. Cumberbatch, 45, reflected on the controversy that initially surrounded his role.

In "Zoolander 2," Cumberbatch played a nonbinary fashion model named All. Activists criticized Cumberbatch's portrayal, noting that producers could have cast a member of the LGBTQ community instead of hiring a straight actor.

"There was a lot of contention around the role, understandably now," Cumberbatch told Cruz. "And I think in this era, my role would never be performed by anybody other than a trans actor. But I remember at the time not thinking of it necessarily in that regard, and it being more about two dinosaurs, two heteronormative clichés not understanding this new diverse world."

Cumberbatch continued that the role "backfired a little bit," but he felt fortunate to have worked with costars like Cruz, Ben Stiller, and Owen Wilson.

After the film's trailer was released in 2015, The Guardian reported that LGBTQ activists encouraged audiences to boycott the film over transphobia. A petition was launched soon after the trailer's release and called out the movie for its "offensive representation."

"Additionally, Cumberbatch's character is clearly portrayed as an over-the-top, cartoonish mockery of androgyne/trans/non-binary individuals. This is the modern equivalent of using blackface to represent a minority," the petition read.

"If the producers and screenwriters of Zoolander wanted to provide social commentary on the presence of trans/androgyne individuals in the fashion industry, they could have approached models like Andreja Pejic to be in the film. By hiring a cis actor to play a non-binary individual in a clearly negative way, the film endorses harmful and dangerous perceptions of the queer community at large," it continued.

The petition garnered 25,008 signatures at the time of publication.

At the time, the film's co-writer Justin Theroux responded to the criticism with a statement to The Wrap saying the trailer's scene was taken out of context.

Representatives for Benedict Cumberbatch did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The discussion surrounding straight actors portraying LGBTQ characters in film roles is ongoing.

In November 2020, actress Kristen Stewart told Variety there was a "gray area" when it came to straight actors playing gay characters.

"I would never want to tell a story that really should be told by somebody who's lived that experience," she told the publication. "Having said that, it's a slippery-slope conversation because that means I could never play another straight character if I'm going to hold everyone to the letter of this particular law."

Darren Criss, who played a gay man in "Glee" and "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," said he would no longer play LGBTQ roles in 2018.

"There are certain [queer] roles that I'll see that are just wonderful," Criss told Bustle. "But I want to make sure I won't be another straight boy taking a gay man's role."