Jackson wants US actors to play American race roles

Actor Samuel L Jackson (right) has criticised the casting of black British actors in roles about American race relations.

“There are a lot of black British actors in these movies,” Jackson said, “I tend to wonder what that movie (Get Out) would’ve been with an American brother who really feels that. Daniel grew up in a country where they’ve been interracial dating for a hundred years,” he said.

Jackson also pointed to filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s historical drama Selma and said the reason why so many British black actors are getting American roles is because they don’t charge much. He said: “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 herself had indicated that the stage backgrounds of many British actors is one reason for their success in attaining US roles. “I think there’s something about the stage, because they have that stage preparation,” she had told Buzzfeed back in 2013.

Jackson’s comments were denounced on Twitter by British actor John Boyega.