In this BBC article, Eddie Redmayne tries very hard to sit on the fence regarding the issue of actors playing roles whose sexual identity doesn't match their own. He says it was a mistake to a play trans role in the movie "The Danish Girl", released in 2015.

Well yes, there is a lot of that kind of thing in the acting world. Cisgender actors playing trans roles and straight actors playing gay roles. What really annoys me is the Star Wars movies and spin-off TV series: how many of the alien characters were actually played by aliens?

Just in case any readers have not worked it out, I am being sarcastic. We have a word in the English language for people who play roles that are in some way different from who those people really are: actors! Even Eddie Redmayne referred to this, when he said that any actor "should be able to play any sort of part ..."

If we take this lie of reasoning to it logical conclusion we would have to have:

• Actors only playing roles of matching ethnicity (no Indians playing Pakistanis, and no Caucasians playing native Americans, for example);
• Actors only playing characters of matching sexuality and sexual identity;
• Only actors who are serial killers playing the roles of serial killers;
• Only actors with real martial arts skills playing the roles of martial arts experts;
• Only actors who have been to space playing the roles of astronauts;
• Only mafioso actors playing mafioso roles;
• Only wife-beating actors playing the roles of wife beaters.

Are we going to outlaw pantomimes (an English tradition) because of the pantomime dames?

Where do we draw the line? If it is wrong for straight actors to play gay roles, how is it OK for gay actors to play straight roles (which is how most gay actors learn their trade)?

I want to see movies and TV shows in which the characters are well played and believable, which means picking the best available actor for the role. Please leave PC considerations out of the casting decisions.