Hugo Weaving Says Gay Actors Said No to 'Priscilla' Roles

The 1994 movie "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" became a cult classic for its LGBTQ-focused storyline: In the film, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce star as two drag queens who venture across Australia with a transgender woman, played by Terence Stamp, in a tour bus.

In a new interview with Stella Magazine, Weaving revealed that gay actors weren't hired to play the lead roles in the movie because they didn't want to be typecast in those roles, reported The Daily Mail.

The movie came up while Weaving was speaking about straight actors in gay roles and shared how the actors were "lauded" for their portrayals because they were heterosexual.

"The nonsense surrounding it was extraordinary," he said. "Also, the logical extension of the argument is that if you have to be gay to play a gay person, then do you have to be a murderer to play a murderer?"

The world is changing when it comes to diversity said Weaving, and he is glad to see it. But when it comes to acting, acting is acting.

"There's an insanity about the casting - the whole idea of acting is to understand the 'other,'" he said. "Actors perform a role, which is to illuminate the other – not to illuminate themselves."

"The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" reportedly grossed 10.1 million at the box office.