Hollywood won’t allow lead gay character, says Roland Emmerich

Roland Emmerich has said that Hollywood will not yet let a lead character in a big budget movie be gay.

The director spoke to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the 26th annual GLAAD Media Awards, at which he will be honoured with the 2015 Stephen F. Kolzak Award by his close friend Channing Tatum.

Emmerich, who has directed a movie based on the Stonewall riots, discussed his inclusion of a gay couple in the upcoming Independence Day sequel.

“We don’t make a big deal out of it,” he explained. “You start small and then you get bigger and bigger and bigger, and one day you have a gay character as the lead and nobody will wonder at it no more. But we’re not there yet.

“It’s really interesting, you know, when you go to a studio and say it’s [the lead] character and it’s a $150 million or $160 million film – they will not allow it. But when you have five characters, they allow [one of them to be gay] because they’re super-smart, you know?”

Emmerich described the Stonewall movie as “really very special”, explaining that it will show “a totally different side of me”.

Discussing the fight for gay rights in the US, the Germany-born director said: “We’re in a good place, but we’re not there yet. The Supreme Court has to make its vote, and then it’s on to public relations and tirelessly hammering it into people’s heads because there are still a lot of people who hate gay people in this world.

“I mean, go to the country – there’s still gay bashing. We have to keep fighting.”

More Stories: