Meiyang Chang will be seen playing the role of a gay man in the upcoming web series Untag. The biggest challenge, he admits, in taking up the assignment was to ensure that he stayed away from stereotypes. Elaborating more on the challenges of playing a gay charachter, Chang says, “I had to open my mind to their world to do my research. In fact, they’re more fun-loving and know how to lighten up. I’d say playing a gay character was eye-opening as well as a lot of fun.”
Chang has kept himself far removed from controversies of any kind. On being asked what made him take a risk of doing such a role, which is bound to create a buzz, the actor says that to him, it is ‘just another’ role. “Honestly, I don’t see it as a bold or risky move. For me, it is a story of a normal person in an abnormal society. I have gay friends, live in the all-accepting cosmopolis of Mumbai and it’s all the same for me. Yes, from the perspective of an audience it may seem bold, as LGBT people are wrongly perceived as an oddity in Indian society (some even going as far as branding them criminal). But that’s what Untag plans to change — people’s perceptions.”
Continuing on the theme of stereotypes, Chang says, “I have faced racism throughout my life, and still do. While most of it is harmless curiosity, which I don’t mind, some of it is vicious and hurtful. I’ve never indulged in body shaming or judging people on their colour, caste, ethnicity or religion, so I really don’t understand the malice towards anyone who doesn’t conform to one’s idea of ‘normal’. The question is not whether my eyes are small or not, it’s about whether your heart is big enough to accept me as who I am.”
