Eric McCormack (Photo by David Shankbone via Wikimedia Commons)

Eric McCormack is best known for portraying Will on the hit sitcom “Will & Grace” but the straight actor says he couldn’t see himself playing the gay character if it had been cast today.

“I think it wasn’t a terrible thing in 1998 that a straight guy played the role, but I’m glad that times are changing, and I’m glad that nowadays a Will Truman would probably be cast with someone who is gay,” McCormack told the Sydney Morning Herald.“But does that mean that now when you walk into a casting room you have to state whether you are straight or gay? I don’t know.”

McCormack says he is grateful for the opportunity to play Will because the “show has given me a chance to give back.”

“I get to be the straight-guy ambassador to the rest of the world for a community that has been shouting for a long time to be heard and to be recognized,” McCormack says.

“Will & Grace” airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.