Kristen Stewart calls straight actors playing gay characters 'a grey area'

Kristen Stewart believes the issue of only gay actors playing gay characters is "a grey area".

In her new festive movie Happiest Season, the Twilight actress, who identifies as bisexual, stars as Abby, one half of a couple, alongside Mackenzie Davis, who doesn't identify as a lesbian.

In a new interview with Variety, she was asked how she feels about the argument that only gay actors should play gay characters and admitted that as a "young white girl who was straight", she has always been lucky to have work, so she thinks about this issue often.

"I would never want to tell a story that really should be told by somebody who's lived that experience," she explained. "Having said that, it's a slippery slope conversation because that means I could never play another straight character if I'm going to hold everyone to the letter of this particular law. I think it's such a grey area."

The 30-year-old continued to explain that if you're going to tell a story about an experience that's not your own, you have to care and know where you're allowed to explore.

"I mean, if you're telling a story about a community and they're not welcoming to you, then f**k off," she stated. "But if they are, and you're becoming an ally and a part of it and there's something that drove you there in the first place that makes you uniquely endowed with a perspective that might be worthwhile, there's nothing wrong with learning about each other."

She added that despite Mackenzie not being gay in real-life, Kristen and director Clea DuVall had no hesitation about asking her to play Abby's girlfriend Harper.

"She was the only person in my mind that could have played this with me,” she stated.

Happiest Season is released on Hulu and other digital platforms from Wednesday.