British actor Jack Whitehall told Variety he was "proud" of portraying the first openly gay major character in a Disney movie. The "Good Omens" star said he didn't realize when auditioning that his character would be gay, much less come out to Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, who plays a steamboat captain. Speaking to the magazine's Marc Malkin before the film's premiere, Whitehall recalled that "there was only a like a couple of sides" available to him for the audition. The actor recorded himself reading the lines, with his mother taking the part of Johnson's character. "So yeah, there wasn't any indication of that," Whitehall said of the character being LGBTQ and coming out in the film. The moment itself sidesteps the word "gay," but Whitehall's character, McGregor, makes himself perfectly clear, and Johnson's steamboat captain, nicknamed "Skipper," takes his revelation in stride. McGregor — the brother of another major character in the film, Lily, played by Emily Blunt — explains to the skipper that "he broke off three engagements with women because his 'interests happily lay elsewhere,' " Variety recounts. "He goes on to say that he would do anything for his sister," the Variety piece continues, "because she was the only one who 'stood by' him while he was shunned by family and friends because of who he 'loved.' "Frank then raises a drink to toast 'elsewhere,' " the scene synopsis adds. Tap link in bio to continue on @EDGEmedianetwork ???? ❤️ (?️: Kilian Melloy / @dragelruairi , ?: Jack Whitehall / Website)

British actor Jack Whitehall told Variety he was "proud" of portraying the first openly gay major character in a Disney movie. The "Good Omens" star said he didn't realize when auditioning that his character would be gay, much less come out to Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, who plays a steamboat captain. Speaking to the magazine's Marc Malkin before the film's premiere, Whitehall recalled that "there was only a like a couple of sides" available to him for the audition. The actor recorded himself reading the lines, with his mother taking the part of Johnson's character. "So yeah, there wasn't any indication of that," Whitehall said of the character being LGBTQ and coming out in the film. The moment itself sidesteps the word "gay," but Whitehall's character, McGregor, makes himself perfectly clear, and Johnson's steamboat captain, nicknamed "Skipper," takes his revelation in stride. McGregor — the brother of another major character in the film, Lily, played by Emily Blunt — explains to the skipper that "he broke off three engagements with women because his 'interests happily lay elsewhere,' " Variety recounts. "He goes on to say that he would do anything for his sister," the Variety piece continues, "because she was the only one who 'stood by' him while he was shunned by family and friends because of who he 'loved.' "Frank then raises a drink to toast 'elsewhere,' " the scene synopsis adds. Tap link in bio to continue on @EDGEmedianetwork ???? ❤️ (?️: Kilian Melloy / @dragelruairi , ?: Jack Whitehall / Website)