Period dramas ‘limit chances for actors’ says new Hollywood star
GEMMA CHAN has said the British affection for period dramas has limited the opportunities for actors from diverse backgrounds.
The actress, who is best known for her role in Channel 4 drama
Humans, said the dominance of lavish costume dramas have given audiences a skewed view of their country’s history. She said: “I think for a long time a lot of the UK’s output was period film and that is a particular thing, or used to be a particular thing in the past.
“It feels like things have shifted somewhat. I’ve been acting now for 10 years, I think things are really different now to even five years ago, people are much more accepting of people casting outside of the box, or thinking outside of the box.”
She added: “I think it’s an interesting thing, period dramas, in that we have an idea that we have got from other films, that have been made previously, of what the past was like - which isn’t necessarily accurate.
“I find that really interesting, the idea of what were the demographics of the country. Actually people of colour didn’t show up in the UK like 50 years ago, they have been here for a long time. But when your art and your culture and storytelling doesn’t reflect that, then the public get a skewed version of their own history in a way.” Chan stars in new film Crazy
Rich Asians, the first Hollywood film in 25 years with a majority Asian-American cast and has already made more than $160m before it is released in the UK. She hopes it will counteract some of the defences used after a number of “white washing” casting controversies.
There was uproar after Scarlett Johansson was cast as Mira Killian/Major Kusanagi in Ghost
In The Shell – a role written as east Asian, and Emma Stone faced backlash for her role as Allison Ng in Aloha, who is supposed to have a father of half-Chinese and half-Native Hawaiian descent. Meanwhile, Tilda Swinton was cast as The Ancient One in Doctor Strange, described as hailing from a Himalayan kingdom.