Andrew Garfield’s reported remarks about how he prepared to play a gay man aren’t going over well.
The actor is currently starring in a London production of “Angels in America,” and according to an account by Gay Times, Garfield stirred controversy when he answered questions at a panel event about researching his role, in part, by watching “Ru Paul’s Drag Race.”
“Every Sunday I would have eight friends over and we would just watch Ru,” he said. “This is my life outside of this play. I am a gay man right now just without the physical act — that’s all.”
Some on social media took offense to Garfield’s remarks.
Garfield also spoke about wanting to do right by the story.
“As far as I know, I am not a gay man,” Garfield 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, which is wonderful as well. I adore it, but a big concern was what right do I have to play this wonderful gay role?”
Garfield added that the production has been his “most fulfilling creative experience.”
“I had to trust that it was the right thing and Tony [Kushner, the writer of ‘Angels in America’] had asked me and maybe if he’d asked me, it was the right thing,” Garfield said. “It was as about doing honor, doing justice and knowing my history.”
CNN has reached out to a rep for Garfield for further comment.