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Saturday 15 August 2026 16:01:19 GMT
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Doc Yur :
I was picturing Isaac Kragten as Troy
2026-08-15 20:08:56
1
Basil :
The issue is, it cuts a ton of parts of Harris’ character. He’s self conscious that Troy wouldn’t like a chubby guy. He’s eats a lot of sweets and he doesn’t exercise because of a heart condition. We have 3 twinks out of 5 love interests now. I don’t doubt that justice is a good actor, but this is just showing how fatphobic the queer community and television casting is at large.
2026-08-15 16:08:47
50
Lolo :
I think this take misses the mark on the issue. The debate isn’t if Justice is a good enough actor, I personally love him and think he will play the role great and probably be able to have a wonderful chemistry with Charlie as Troy. The criticism is that Harris is THE ONLY character in this series described with a body type that isn’t athletic or thin. Harris was representation of a perfectly normal body type that we don’t get to see being depicted as attractive and desirable in that way. And it’s disappointing that that aspect of the character was erased.
2026-08-15 16:53:56
188
kerryvanessa13 :
In Role Model, Harris is popular, self confident, great at his job, happy in himself, eating cake, baking pies, sharing ice cream, big family dinners, secure in his sexuality and in his “Stocky, soft bellied” body. Yes, he calls himself Pudgy and is blown away that super athletic Troy is into him, but his insecurities are centered around his heart surgery scar and his ongoing health issues rather than his body type. He’s pretty okay with his body type which made it COOLER that Troy was so attracted to him. Meanwhile, MUCH of The Long Game focuses SO MUCH on Shane obsessing over his very restricted diet, which does not seems to actually give him any athletic advantage and is a constant point of contention in his relationships. His diet is making him miserable, making Ilya miserable and seems to be turning into an actual eating disorder. Now that Harris is the skinniest character of all, it really abandons what could have been an interesting juxtaposition. I love the show and can’t wait for season two, but I, like so many others will mourn the only body diversity the show was ever going to have, and a less interesting plot as well.
2026-08-15 19:15:20
84
Kim :
I usually love your takes and I've learned so much about what goes into making TV from you. But I think it's pretty dismissive to say they can never cast someone who fits the image of every single person's imagination. of course not, no one is expecting them to meet every single human's version of Harris. that's actually really insulting to the audience to even make that the basis of your argument. but I don't think it's reasonable for the audience to expect the actor to have some type of resemblance to the character as described. and you are free to even disagree with that viewpoint. but I'm actually shocked at how insulting your argument is to the audience.
2026-08-15 17:01:49
55
sbs :
The comment section passes the vibe check. this take does not. I love Justice in the many many projects that I've seen of his. I would and have celebrated him being cast in roles in the past. But the fact that he was even considered for this role is indicative of fatphobia in the casting department of the show. the character description in the book: Stocky, Pudgy, Soft belly was boiled down to non athletic in the casting call and that plainly shouldn't have happened.
2026-08-16 02:09:58
27
Drew H :
I don't think this is the take, like yes there are absolutely corners of the Fandom that are just being racist or mad their fan cast didn't make it in. But from almost everything I've been seeing, the conversation has very little to do with Justice. Harris is described as stocky, pudgy, a couple of other similar adjectives, and that was really important to so many of us readers, that in a world of athletes, that not only is Troy gay but that this is who he becomes attracted to and falls for. It's not just tweaking a character's height or hair color, it's impactful to the story. I love Justice as an actor, I think they're going to do fantastic things with the role that I'm excited to see, and I don't doubt that of everyone in the room, Justice was the one with the characterization and chemistry to best play the role. My question is why he was asked into the room in the first place when the role description should've disqualified him, but it didn't, and that's on Jacob and the casting team.
2026-08-15 18:28:18
60
Mat :
Let’s not say the casting of Justice smith caused issue. That’s not it. It’s how they cast the character. There are 3 character with described different bodies for the standard cast body type. Ryan, Fabian and Harris. All have descriptions in the book. Notice how Harris (the only character called stocky, soft belly) is the only one to not have any details in the body type they’d prefer? That’s the issue. Ryan got even his hair colour mentioned. Fabian described as skinny in a few ways. Harris…not athletic. That’s it. And his character will be more prominent than the others in the series.
2026-08-15 19:28:58
48
handydandelion 🌼🥾⛰️ :
I love Justice's work. But fatphobia runs rampant in the gay community and media in general. Loosing the representation for midsize/fat people when the book character falls into that category is a slap in the face for every (queer) non-thin person who saw themself in book Harris. There is little to no rep for mid/plus size folks in general, and we barely are shown as the desirable love interest. I will love Justice's Harris. But he won't be the one character I could see myself in in the book series. It's a huge loss, and only shows people like me: Our bodies aren't worth being shown on the screen, being loved and seen as beautiful. This casting tells us that we don't deserve sunshine.
2026-08-15 19:57:45
62
Liane Goldhawk :
He is absolutely talented and he will do a great job….some of us will still be disappointed in the casting. It’s not often that we get to see super confident characters with a belly. I was looking forward to seeing myself in that way in a show.
2026-08-15 19:51:54
15
Kurt Perry :
I think this criticism is in bad faith. The criticism is not about justice. He is very talented and he has proven that by leading several franchise films. The point is the only body diversity that we see in the heated rivalry universe was Harris, and they’ve erased that. That shows to the plus size fans that we are not allowed to exist in this universe and we are not allowed to exist happily in this universe. I’m quite frankly, the majority of the gay men who consume this media have been critical of it from the beginning, and have been not only ignored but harassed by the women in this community. I’m not sure that we needed this criticism if you weren’t going to engage honestly about why people are frustrated.
2026-08-15 23:58:54
33
eri :
it's not that Justice Smith doesn't exactly fit the image that we have have of Harris in our heads. it's that we saw Harris as one of the FEW characters in romance media who is portrayed as chubby AND sexy at the same time, especially in a franchise where almost every other character is a muscle god. it's a defining character trait that Harris is a different body type than Troy and the other hockey players. as others have said, this is indicative of larger social issues, not just petty "that's not how I pictured Harris" complaints. it's especially disappointing given that body shaming and fatphobia are rampant in the gay community. this was a huge missed opportunity to challenge dominant ideals of masculine attractiveness in media.
2026-08-19 17:04:04
11
Kay Taylor Rea :
I have seen very few people who are upset because they think Smith won’t ultimately do a good job. It’s the fact that the only canon character who they MIGHT cast as someone in a bigger body is instead being played by a thin person. As you said, they had much bigger scope for casting after the first season. It wouldn’t have been difficult at all to find someone who wasn’t skinny who also had great chemistry and could play the role.
2026-08-16 11:42:53
13
user3955533368183 :
I see I’m in good company in this comments section, but I think your argument misunderstands where the criticism for this casting choice is coming from. I agree that Justice will likely be great in the role and is incredibly talented, but the character he’s playing canonically has a larger body type. To erase that aspect of the character in casting (and actually go to the opposite end of the spectrum by casting an extremely thin actor) means the production team made an active decision to remove that representation from the show. It’s at odds with the efforts they’ve made to create diversity in the show that wasn’t in the books, which feels intentional - it’s like saying we’re okay with diversity, as long as it still fits the standards of conventional beauty. The fact that these are gay characters adds another layer, since the gay community has a lot of social norms around body types. And this decision wasn’t made in a vacuum either - it’s coming at a time when there’s a widespread resurgence / intensification of fatphobia.
2026-08-16 14:17:40
9
🐜AnTe🐜🇳🇴 :
I love Justice Smith, he's absolutely amazing! And I'm sure his performance will be fantastic. That's not what we're talking about. This has nothing to do with him personally. What we're reacting to is the fact that they didn't even try. And the things people had issues with when it came to the casting of Connor, Hudson or even François didn't have any impact on the characters. Harris' weight and body type DOES have an impact on his character, and the relationship between him and Troy. So can we PLEASE stop comparing these things?!
2026-08-16 05:11:57
15
pam is writing :
It is disappointing that a skinny actor has been chosen to play a stockier character, and it is different in terms of representation to choosing to make a blonde character brunette, or a short character average height (unless in this latter case it has a bearing on the plot). I appreciate that I'm just a viewer and fan of both the books and tv shows. I understand that possibly the chemistry reads will have made this a no-brainer for the casting crew. However, as a queer, fat person, I am personally disappointed that yet again a choice has been made to remove my representation, from a team who are very vocal about the benefits of representation. It makes me question whether all representation is equal...
2026-08-15 20:01:05
14
Christine :
The most important part about Harris is he has a health condition but desperately does not want to be perceived as fragile. Looks perfect.
2026-08-15 16:18:51
28
Finn :
not really a great take, and i’m usually a fan. people can understand that justice is a great actor (i enjoy him greatly) but it’s the absolute blatant fatphobia by the casting team. you’re telling me there wasn’t a single actor that didn’t have chemistry or understand the role that wasn’t the skinniest actor there cast so far? and you can’t compare weight to something like height or hair colour. super tone deaf.
2026-08-16 13:40:09
9
Kim Lovell :
Let’s be honest Hollywood doesn’t like plus size people~ sorry
2026-08-15 20:33:36
17
a.r.hetherman :
It isn't that people are worried Justice won't be able to play Harris. The trouble is that casting any actor that isn't plus or mid size, changes multiple major plot points not only for Harris, but for Troy his love interest. Harris is well known for not only not being skinny but physically not being able to be skinny because of his heart problems, so having a character like Troy fall in love with him, whom we know as a homophobe until his book is not only a beautiful love story but a hopeful one for people who look like Harris is described. I have full faith that Justic will do a wonderful job, I'm just upset with the show directors who are clearly going to end up taking a beautiful and hopeful story for mid and plus size people and changing it so drastically, and that is where the trouble comes with casting someone who doesn't match the look in my head. People didn't like Connor and Hudson because of small superficial reasons that didn't withhold major impact full storylines. Also considering this show has already spent so much time championing breaking boundaries and breaking stereotypes, for them to change the singular larger character and make them an arguably very skinny person is disappointing and heartbreaking. TL:DR the problem isn't with Justice himself, the problem is with what his casting means for the overall story and the changes they are evidently making for Harris.
2026-08-16 10:03:10
5
User :
I also think the fact that nobody was upset at the casting of Svetlana shows that this is a body image topic (Harris) and not a race topic
2026-08-16 00:52:39
9
Topher :
Personally don’t see what the big deal with Justice being cast. Love him as an actor and can’t wait to see how he portrays Harris!
2026-08-15 23:07:15
5
lux :
It just sucks that he was the only new cast that was not allowed to enjoy booking a job
2026-08-15 19:59:04
5
Chef de Brooke :
This casting is just the fat phobia of the media industry and then supplementing one minority out for the other. And expecting no one to notice.
2026-08-16 22:40:46
6
invisibotgirl :
I've been a fan of Justice since The Get Down and was thrilled when he was announced as it felt a lot like the choice to cast François- someone that doesn't match the book version but is A Sure Thing for emotionally delivering what's going to be asked of the character. Harris's sunny personality, as written in the books, could translate into a really annoying tv character in a weaker actors' hands. Not a lot of people can actually pull-off earnestly calling their love interest "buddy" in a heated moment.
2026-08-15 16:21:15
8
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