“This is our job and we work bloody hard to do it the best we can – with the hope of honouring the story we have been given.”

Taking to his Instagram account over the weekend, Takaya Honda, star of Neighbours, posted a picture with his on-screen beau Matt Wilson looking adorable at Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, with a passionate caption answering a question he’s getting tired of hearing.

“We get asked, more often than I think we should, “what’s it like to play a gay character as a straight actor, do you find it difficult?”. Firstly, who could find it hard to play gay opposite this incredible man?”

“Secondly, #LoveisLove, our jobs as actors is to communicate a story by adopting the lives of the characters we play. Who they are attracted to is only one part of who they are. Everyone understands love and most have an intimate understanding of what true romantic love is.

“There is no degree of difficulty added because these characters are gay. This is our job and we work bloody hard to do it the best we can – with the hope of honouring the story we have been given the responsibility of telling.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuitbPHh_mN/

He could also be found in the comments defending straight actors hired to play gay roles.

“I hope I no one is ever asked their sexuality for a casting, it would be completely inappropriate and an awful practice that would likely have dire negative, not positive, effects,” he told a user.

“You continue to say that I have not experienced discrimination, you do not know my story nor the amount of discrimination I have faced, and I do not need to qualify this for you. Please stop attacking those who have positively commented on this post.”

Related: Takaya Honda and Matt Wilson on why Neighbours’ first same-sex wedding is a “historic” moment.