Source: BBC News, ITN News
Actor Stephen Fry has lashed out at the way straight actors are praised for playing gay characters.

The TV star has voiced his opinion on the way male stars who are heterosexual, are lauded as "brave" when they share an intimate moment on screen with other men.

"Straight actors can play gay people and they're rather congratulated on it. People say 'Ooh, how brave of you," he said.

In contrast he says a gay actor playing a straight character would not be praised for convincingly portraying a relationship with a woman.

In the Radio Times interview, the British funnyman revealed his frustration at being pigeonholed as gay in TV and film roles.

"I think the fact that I'm so well known to be gay makes it very difficult to have a convincing relationship with a woman on screen," he said.

He was being interviewed about his starring role in the ITV series Kingdom, in which his character, the lawyer Peter Kingdom, is single.

He asked, "Why should it be difficult for a man to kiss another man?"

He pointed out nobody tells a gay actor: "How brave of you to kiss that woman, that must have been very difficult for you."

He told the magazine: "It wouldn't be at all difficult for me to kiss a woman - I'll kiss a frog if you like. It's difficult to ride bareback backwards while unicycling, but to kiss someone isn't difficult.

"It's just part of the insanely irrational way that the human mind works."

Fry has never made any secret of his sexuality and has campaigned for gay equality.

Full article: BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Gay actors pigeonholed, Fry says
Fry: 'Not brave to play gay characters' | ITN