Cruella’s John McCrea: ‘Queer-representing’ Artie was originally written as a drag queen

Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Disney

Cruella star John McCrea has said he believes his character in the hit film was always intended to be “queer-representing” as he was originally written as a drag queen.

The actor appeared in the Disney movie as the fashion-obsessed Artie earlier this year, alongside Oscar-winner Emma Stone as the title character. 

The Everybody’s Talking About Jamie stage star previously told Attitude of Artie: “For me, it’s official – he’s queer.”

“Somehow a member of the LGBTQ community”

To mark the film’s release on DVD today, and ahead of its release on Disney+ on 27 August, Attitude is releasing footage of our springtime interview with John [below] for the first time.

In it, he calls Artie an “iconic, fabulous rule-breaker” adding: “In one of the original scripts he was a drag queen so I think he was always intended to be queer-representing I suppose, or somehow a member of the LGBTQ community.”

Asked how it feels to be part of a Disney film, the 29-year-old added: “It feels incredible, like a childhood dream come to life. And it’s not necessarily one I saw for myself.

“I’m just so thrilled I can now tick that off my imaginary childhood bucket list.”

It recently emerged that Emma Stone has signed up for a Cruella sequel, in a revolutionary deal with Disney which will make her the highest-paid actress in Hollywood.

Cruella has scored a 75% ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed over $226m worldwide. It is currently the seventh highest-grossing film worldwide of 2021.

The Attitude September Style Issue is out now.

Subscribe in print and get your first three issues for just £1 each, or digitally for just over £1.50 per issue.