Adam Lambert Unimpressed if Theo James Plays George Michael

Adam Lambert was unimpressed with recent reports that Theo James was being considered to play George Michael in an upcoming biopic.

The musician commented on The Advocate’s Instagram post, which linked to an article explaining that the White Lotus star had expressed interest in playing the gay pop icon during an appearance on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

In response to the post, Lambert wrote, “Yay another straight man playing a gay icon,” with an eye-roll Emoji.

The Grammy-nominated singer appeared to be referring to other Hollywood productions about gay stars being played by straight performers.

Rami Malek played Freddie Mercury in the 2018 film Bohemian Rhapsody, and Taron Egerton played Elton John in Rocketman in 2019.

Although there is no shortage of LGBTQ+ talent in the entertainment industry, LGBTQ+ roles have historically mainly been filled by straight actors.

In 2020, Lambert told Metro that he wanted to play Michael on the big screen.

The Daily Mail had reported that James had been tapped to lead the $100 million production’s cast and that Michael’s family had endorsed the project. However, representatives for the late Wham! frontman’s estate, George Michael Entertainment, issued a statement denying the Mail’s reporting.

“To all of George’s Lovelies, fans and lovers of his music, a story has been published stating that George Michael’s family has endorsed a so called 'biopic' about his life. On behalf of George’s family and GME we want to make it clear that there is no truth whatsoever in this story, we know nothing about this project and will not be endorsing it in any way,” the statement read.

It remains to be seen whether the project can go ahead without an eventual agreement from the estate. In addition, the inclusion of any of the pop icon’s music in the film would require a business agreement from the musician’s catalog’s copyright holder.