Despite Queer Roles, Playing Gay is a 'Difficult Subject' for Straight Actor Josh O'Connor

"Challengers" and "God's Own Country" star Josh O'Connor won queer hearts in those roles, but he still finds it a "difficult subject" as to whether straight actors ought to play LGBTQ+ characters.

Speaking with Vanity Fair for its "2025 Hollywood Issue," O'Connor opened up about how he needs to learn new skills for each role he takes on – "I can't say that I'm a very good tennis player and I definitely can't say that I'm a fluent Italian speaker," he said of his preparation for roles in "Challengers" and "La Chimera," before adding that he now needs to learn to work with wood before lensing a flick with Kelly Reichardt – but one role audiences don't mind him embodying is a gay man, or even a gay-ish man, as in the polyamory drama "Hide & Seek."

It's a persona he'll don once more with "The History of Sound," in which he stars with "Gladiator II" hunk Paul Mescal. After that, reports suggested, O'Connor may star in "Queer" director Luca Guadagnino's film adaptation of Pier Vittorio Tondelli's gay romantic novel "Separate Rooms."

Still, the issue of straight actors in queer roles remains contentious, with strong opinions on both sides. For O'Connor, who says he has "mixed feelings," it comes down to what's on the page.

"The truth is that ultimately I will read a script and what affects me, affects me," O'Connor mused in his comments to Variety. "'The History of Sound' is a film about many things. For instance, it's about grief. It's about companionship. It's also about music. It's about what happens in life when you fall in love with someone, and maybe that connection is broken, you know?"

By contrast, his "character from 'God's Own Country' was someone who was unable to love and be loved and receive love," O'Connor added.

"A character's sexuality, a character's background, where they've grown up, their dynamic with their family – these are all aspects to any character," the British actor went on to say, "and so I take those as seriously as I would any other aspect. But to be totally truthful, I'm not 100% sure how I do feel about it."

One thing he knows for certain is that "A sex scene is... the least sexy thing in the world."

Explained O'Connor: "It might look sexy onscreen, but in reality, it's the same as a fight sequence, a bit of action or stunt, or a dance. It's a very choreographed, rehearsed thing, and you're surrounded in a room full of people – someone's holding a boom microphone and camera and lights."

But there is another side to that, too, O'Connor told Variety. "On the other hand, being vulnerable and intimate with another actor is more revealing, and scarier, because you're often having to reach for something inside you that sometimes is blocked away or hidden, whatever it is, and that can be intimidating."

O'Connor doesn't just play gay; he's also got a story credit for the film "Bonus Track," a queer rom-com about two British high school boys teaming up for a talent show and finding they make beautiful music together.

"The History of Sound" – directed by "Moffie" filmmaker Oliver Hermanus – is a film set in the time of World War I in which "two young men set out to record the lives, voices and music of their American countrymen," the website for film distributor Mubi explains.

O'Connor plays David in the film, which is set to hit theaters next year, and Mescal plays Lionel.