Twitter reacts to Andrew Garfield’s comments about his Angels in America role

Andrew Garfield said that he prepared for Angels in America by watching RuPaul’s Drag Race, which means he’s gay now. And Twitter is not having it.

Andrew Garfield just said that he’s “a gay man right now, just without the physical act,” and people have some thoughts.

Garfield was doing a Q&A about how he prepared for his role as Prior Walter in Angels in America when he made the bizarre comments.

He said that he was worried about playing Prior because he wasn’t sure he had the right “to play this wonderful gay role” since he identifies as straight.

“As far as I know, I am not a gay man,” he said. “Maybe I’ll have an awakening later in my life, which I’m sure will be wonderful and I’ll get to explore that part of the garden, but right now I’m secluded to my area.”

To Garfield, playing the role was about “doing honor, doing justice, and knowing my herstory.”

So how did Garfield prepare for Angels in America? He said he consulted his friends in the LGBTQIA community and watched RuPaul’s Drag Race with friends every Sunday. “That is my life outside of this play,” he said. “I am a gay man right now, just without the physical act – that’s all.”

Um, OK. While Garfield may have been trying to make a light-hearted comment, his statements are odd at best and offensive at worst. Not everyone who watches RuPaul’s Drag Race is gay and not every gay person watches RuPaul’s Drag Race. Even if they do, there’s obviously a lot more to them than that. It showed an utter ignorance to gay culture, and gay history. And some have accused Garfield of cultural appropriation.

And knowing your history, as Garfield pointed out in the Q&A, is so important, especially for a show as meaningful as Angels in America. The 1993 Tony Kushner play focused on AIDS and being gay in America in the `80s. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. Garfield plays Prior Walter. Prior is a gay man with AIDS who has visions of the Angel and deals with being abandoned by his boyfriend Louis Ironson.

It’s an incredibly emotional, complex, and powerful play. So it’s surprising that Garfield would describe being gay in such simplistic terms. And let’s just say, people had some feelings. Many took to Twitter to talk about how offended they were.

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Do you think Andrew Garfield’s comments were offensive?