To anyone with concerns about the diversity of the #StonewallMovie. I saw the movie for the first time last week and can assure you all that it represents almost every race and section of society that was so fundamental to one of the most important civil rights movements in living history. Marsha P Johnson is a major part of the movie, and although first hand accounts of who threw the first brick in the riots vary wildly, it is a fictional black transvestite character played by the very talented @vlad_alexis who pulls out the first brick in the riot scenes. My character is adopted by a group of street kids whilst sleeping rough in New York. In my opinion, the story is driven by the leader of this gang played by@jonnybeauchamp who gives an extraordinary performance as a Puerto Rican transvestite struggling to survive on the streets. Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ character represents the Mattachine Society, who were at the time a mostly white and middle class gay rights group who stood against violence and radicalism. I felt incredibly nervous taking on this role knowing how important the subject matter is to so many people but Roland Emmerich is one of the most sensitive and heartfelt directors I’ve worked with and I hope that, as an ensemble, we have not only done such an important story justice but also made a good movie as well.
Jeremy
Honestly this has got to STOP! I am no fan of the fact that Emmerich added fictional characters to the movie. BUT as far as OUR history is concerned its time to stop co-opting this event for a personal agenda.
NO ONE. AND I MEAN NO ONE. has any PROOF of how the event actually started. It wasn’t even historically documented for the first time until 20 years later when someone finally tried to piece the events together to write a book and he (Duberman) got conflicting stories and decided which one to choose in his book. So for all you “children” out there that weren’t even alive when Stonewall happened that are bitching about Marsha and Sylvia they themselves gave conflicting stories about where they were that night. Syvia was in the bar, then outside to start the riot. Its a mess! The history of the Stonewall Riot is now one of folklore and very basic facts. Nobody knows who actually started it and it will always be that way. We know who was there over the THREE DAYS rioting and who was in the bar. But everything else is hearsay. So those of you who are so adamant about who, what, and where and are making believe that they actually know about how it began are just as bad or worse than Roland Emmerich.
And if you want to be historically accurate in 1969 BOTH Sylvia and Marsha were NOT “transgender”. Sylvia and Marsha were “transvestite” street hustlers. And that’s what they called themselves. Thus the organization S.T.A.R. (STREET TRANSVESTITE ACTION REVOLUTIONARIES) and they were damn proud people and didn’t care what you called them as long as you gave them equality. And you all could learn something from that. And I know this for a fact because I knew them both.
You are all washing our LGBT history in one way or another and it must stop.
IT MUST STOP NOW!
Totally agree with Jeremy Irvine, a talented actor who would not be attached to anything if it would cause controversy,any other remark would just dismiss this film, is doing injustice to a fine writer, director and the entire cast. To not support this film is taking back our victory.