Jack Whitehall feels proud of coming out scene in Jungle Cruise
Jack Whitehall feels proud of his character's coming-out scene in 'Jungle Cruise'.
The 33-year-old actor plays McGregor Houghton in the new Disney flick and has revealed he feels proud of the way the character reveals his sexuality, as he explains to skipper Frank Wolff - played by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - that he broke off three engagements to other women as his "interests happily lay elsewhere".
Frank then raises a glass to toast "elsewhere", as McGregor explains how his sister Lily - played by Emily Blunt - was the only one who "stood by" him when he was shunned because of who he "loved".
Jack told Variety: "I think it was a really well-written scene, and one that we certainly thought about and talked about.
"I hope that it's a scene that audiences enjoy ... I certainly felt at the time that I was proud of the work that we'd done."
Jack was actually unaware that his alter ego was gay when he first auditioned for the movie.
He also admitted to going through a "long casting process" before he secured the role.
He recalled: "When I first read the script, there was only like a couple of sides.
"So, yeah, there wasn't any indication of that. It was quite a long casting process."
Jack explained that his mother Hilary actually helped him land the role after she read Dwayne's lines during his audition tape.
He said: "My mother played The Rock. It was amazing. She did The Rock's voice and everything."
Jack also quipped that he tried to get Hilary hired on the film as one of Dwayne's stand-ins on the set in Hawaii.
He joked: "Unfortunately, she didn't get the call, but it worked because I got the part."