SAMUEL JACKSON & BLACK ACTORS
Actor Samuel L. Jackson asks why British black actors are portraying Americans in Hollywood films
Samuel Jackson has criticized the casting of black British actors in American films like the horror hit Get Out and the Martin Luther King Jr. drama Selma.
In an appearance Monday on the radio station Hot 97, Jackson noted that a lot of roles are going to British actors. He said he wondered what Get Out would have been like “with an American brother who really feels that.” Jordan Peele’s film is about an African-American photographer, played by the British actor Daniel Kaluuya, whose white girlfriend brings him home to her parents’ house.
“Daniel grew up in a country where they’ve been interracial dating for a hundred years. What would a brother from America have made of that role? Some things are universal, but (not everything),” Jackson continued.
He also pointed to Ava DuVernay’s Selma, which starred David Oyelowo as King.
“There are some brothers in America who could have been in that movie who would have had a different idea about how King thinks.” John Boyega, the British Star
Wars star, on Twitter called the debate a “stupid” conflict “we don’t have time for,” although Boyega was not included in Jackson’s statement since he doesn’t necessarily play an American in the hit franchise.
Over a decade ago, Damian Lewis (the issue is not limited to black actors) had an answer for that: British actors are cheaper. Lewis played an American war hero in Band
of Brothers. He was the mini-series’ lead despite the presence of American actors Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Cudlitz and Ron Livingston, among others. And Jackson is aware of that. “They’re cheaper than us, for one thing. They don’t cost as much. And they (casting agents and directors) think they’re better trained, because they’re classically trained.”
DuVernay told Buzzfeed in 2013 that she admired the theatrical backgrounds of British actors.
“I think there’s something about the stage, because they have that stage preparation. Their work is really steeped in theater. Our system of creating actors is a lot more commercial,” said DuVernay.
For his part, Peele told The Guardian he originally wanted to cast an American for Get
Out, “because this movie was so much about representation of the African-American experience.”
But a Skype session with Kaluuya changed that.
“Once I’d wrapped my head around how universal these themes were, it became easy for me to pick Daniel, because at the end of the day, he was the best person for the role. He did the audition and it was a slam dunk,” said Peele.
It’s not just the British black actors that are invading Hollywood.
British actor Henry Cavill was cast as Superman while Welshman Christian Bale played Batman before the part went back to an American, Ben Affleck. The recent Spiderman is Tom Holland. / AP with JGA