Stanley Tucci shares his thoughts on straight actors playing gay roles: 'You're supposed to play different people. You just are.'

• Stanley Tucci weighed in on straight actors playing gay roles on BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs."
• He believes it's "fine" as long as it's being done "the right way" as opposed to caricatures.

"An actor is an actor is an actor," Stanley Tucci said on Sunday's episode of BBC Radio's "Desert Island Discs." "You're supposed to play different people. You just are. That's the whole point of it."

The Oscar nominee previously weighed in on the same topic — straight actors playing gay roles — but this time around, he has taken a clearer stance.

"Obviously I believe that's fine. I am always very flattered when gay men come up to me and talk to me about 'The Devil Wears Prada' or they talk about 'Supernova,'" said Tucci on the BBC radio show.

"And they say that 'It was just so beautiful,' you know, 'You did it the right way.' Because often, it's not done the right way," said Tucci.

He believes that straight actors playing these on-screen roles is only problematic when it portrays caricatures and stereotypes of the LGBTQ+ community.

The lauded actor, who married Emily Blunt's sister Felicity in 2012, has been widely praised for his performances over the years. The three gay characters he's played include Nigel, a leading fashion authority in "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006), Sean, a club assistant in "Burlesque" (2010), and Tusker, a man with final-stage dementia in "Supernova" (2020).

Over the years, several other straight actors have won Academy Awards for their portrayals of LGBTQ+ characters. In 1994, Tom Hanks won his first Oscar for his role as an attorney suing his law firm for discrimination in "Philadelphia." Nine years later, Charlize Theron won for playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos in "Monster," with Cate Blanchett taking it home the following year for her role as actress Katharine Hepburn in "The Aviator."