Out actor Alan Cumming has weighed in on the debate on straight actors playing gay roles.

Cumming was asked about the subject during an interview with UK LGBT glossy Attitude to promote his memoir, Baggage: Tales from a Fully-Packed Life.

“Where do you stand in the ‘debate’ around who should be able to take on LGBTQ+ roles?” the interviewer asked.

“I think it’s interesting that the conversation has moved on from about actors coming out to actors playing gay people,” Cumming answered. “At least that’s a positive thing because I always used to think, I don’t want to talk about ‘outing.' The more tension you bring to it, the more the media’s going to talk about it, and actually it shouldn’t matter. I know other closeted people in Hollywood, blah, blah – anyway, I don’t mind so much.”

“What I mind is a bad performance right? I think gayness is different from race or disability in terms of the offense that it can cause for somebody who is not that to play. I have played lots of straight people. I think I should be allowed to play straight people. I don’t mind when straight people play gay people if they play it authentically. If they play it badly, well, there’s lots of gay people out there who could have played this much better. That’s what pisses me off.”

“The other thing is, it’s important to remember that the reason these straight people play gay people, or the reason why people who are not from a group play [a member of] a group is because the minority doesn’t have enough famous people to be ‘bankable’ stars that the studio deems as important enough to carry a film. That’s what we have to address, the fact that we don’t have enough – that’s been addressed in terms of color now, which I think is great, but disability and queerness and transness, all these things, we don’t have enough people who are big enough stars for it not to be an issue. That’s what we have to look at, more people being represented. It’s all about representation. That’s the big answer. My short answer is, I don’t really care so long as people do good performances. As someone who plays straight all the time, if I’m not convincing as a straight person, then I shouldn’t get the job,” he said.

Cumming is best known to American audiences for his portrayal of Eli Gold in the CBS legal drama The Good Wife. He returned to CBS to play an openly gay CIA agent searching for a serial killer in Instinct. CBS canceled the series after two seasons.

(Related: Alan Cumming praises CBS for gay lead character during Trump administration.)