Jonathon Groff on Newsweek article: “You just have to take it like any good or bad review”

Plenty of folks were outraged by a controversial Newsweek article in which writer Ramin Setoodeh stated that openly gay actors are unable to convincingly play straight characters.

To back up his point, he cited the performance of Sean Hayes in Broadway’s Promises, Promises and that of Jonathan Groff on TV’s Glee.

Groff, currently appearing in a revival of Deathtrap on London’s West End, had far less harsh words for the writer and his theory.

“It’s just one of those things,” the actor says in an interview with the UK’s Independent. “You just have to take it like any good or bad review, and try to let it roll off your back. I’ve played all kinds of characters, with all kinds of sexuality, and I hope to go on doing that.”

However, he doesn’t believe the article was homophobic, and compares it to a scathing review of an actor’s unconvincing accent. “It’s all pretty much the same. People will say, ‘so-and-so can’t play this role because of this or that’,” he muses.

Sitting in the Royal Retirement room at the theatre, Groff seems positively Zen. “As an actor, it is great if you can leave your personal life at the door, but it is inevitable that the public is going to come to know more about you.”

As his fame grows, so does the difficulty of separating his personal life from his work. Groff is regularly accosted by fans – known as “Gleeks” – but considers he has escaped lightly.

“For the first time in my life, people recognize me in the street, but it is not like the paparazzi are following me, so it is sort of nice,” he says. Groff seems unable to believe his luck. He cheerfully explains that just six years ago he was working as a waiter while getting up at 4am to queue for open auditions: “For every job I did get, there were 100 I didn’t. The rejection is pretty intense, so you have to have faith in yourself.”