(BBC Studios/Alan Peebles)
Brendan O’Carroll has said he is unimpressed by allegations that his show Mrs Brown’s Boys is transphobic.
The Irish actor has starred as matriarch Agnes Brown in the sitcom since 2011, having originally conceived the character for a radio play in 1992.
Over the years, Mrs Brown’s Boys has been panned almost universally by critics, with The independentSean O’Grady writes that the 2021 Christmas special was “a hellish place where the mind has gone to die”.
However, the show has remained hugely popular, with the show returning for a Christmas special this year.
Speak with The sunO’Carroll was asked about critics who apparently claim the show is transphobic because the actor plays a female role.
“I don’t think about them, I write the show I write,” he replied.
“I never think of myself as a man who plays a woman – when Mrs. Brown goes on stage, she’s a woman.”
He continued: “Where do you draw the line? Can Leonardo DiCaprio play carpenter or will we get a carpenter? Shouldn’t we be looking for the best person for the job?”
In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion about whether actors should be able to play characters of a different gender, or trans characters, on screen.
On Thursday (October 6) the Department of the Interior reported that hate crimes against transgender people had more than doubled in the past year with an increase of 56 percent.
The report suggested that the lives and rights of transgender people, which have been “discussed a lot on social media” over the past year, may have contributed to the rise in attacks.
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