Some years ago, I had the honor of casting an actor in a project that I thought he was perfect for. He asked me what time call was, and I told him and he said, “That’s okay with me, but I have to warn you that I go to church on Sundays. I’m a Christian.”
I told him that wouldn’t be a problem, as long as he could get there by the time we needed him at the shoot. He thanked me and said that he’d see me then.
He showed up on time, worked hard all day and was a pleasure to work with. At lunch, he excused himself for about ten minutes – not an unusual request – to go pray in his car. We all had a great time shooting together and we wrapped early enough so he could get home in time for church.
A few years later my company cast another project where the producer wanted a Christian actor to play one of the roles because there were some religious overtones to the film. The kid we cast was young and inexperienced but he had a nice look and all of us liked him for the part, so we hired him.
The first day of shooting went well enough until we got to his first scene where he
A few days ago, I made a comment about the casting of Christian Bale in the lead role of Moses for a new biblical epic. The reaction to my comment was swift and angry. Many people were upset with me saying that a Christian shouldn’t be cast as a Jew.
I understand why these people are upset. They feel that Jews don’t get the same opportunities as Christians do and that any time a “name” actor is cast, it should be given to a Jew. And I can’t say that I blame them for having this attitude. Hollywood has always marginalized Jews and still does so today, even though we have become much more tolerant as a society.
But why are we still trying to marginalize others? Why are we still trying to exclude certain groups from participating in the entertainment industry? Why do we think anyone has the right to decide who can be an actor or not?
We need to stop thinking like this. We need to stop trying to exclude others from participating in our industry.
There have been a lot of news stories lately about the casting of a Christian actor in the role of a Christian. It all started when an actor who self-identifies as a Christian was cast in a movie where the character he will play is also identified as a Christian. Outraged, some people threatened to boycott the movie. What was missing?
The controversy was not about the actor’s religion but rather his race. To be more precise, the uproar was over the fact that he was Caucasian and not Middle Eastern, since the religion being portrayed is one that started in that part of the world.
Just for fun I went looking for Christians in movies and television shows who are played by actors who also identify themselves as Christians. I found plenty of them. And I also found plenty of Jews playing Jews, atheists portraying atheists, Buddhists playing Buddhists, Muslims playing Muslims and so on. The real question is why do we care?
Casting is an art form. It is something that a lot of people just don’t understand. There are times when casting an actor to look like the character in real life is more important to tell the story, than making sure they can really act. When an actor is cast that doesn’t look like the character, it takes us out of the movie and distracts us from the story being told. This is why it is so important to cast appropriately.
I get the idea of wanting to diversify, but sometimes the characters are written as a certain ethnicity, and you need to stay true to that. Yes there are times when actors are miscast, either for monetary reasons or because it was easier for production purposes, but those instances should be few and far between. The main reason a casting director will go against what was written in regards to ethnicity/gender/age, etc… is because of their ability as an actor.
The purpose of this blog isn’t to discuss politics or what your personal beliefs are in regards to diversity… this blog is purely about casting actors that can tell the story properly through their acting ability and appearance combined.
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion around the casting of Christian Bale as Moses in the upcoming biblical epic Exodus. This comes on the heels of Ridley Scott replacing his original choice, white actor Joel Edgerton, with black actor Ben Mendelsohn in the role of Ramses. Now, I’m not here to debate whether it is historically accurate to cast a white man as Moses or if Moses had an Egyptian accent, or if Ramses was black (or even if he had a French accent) or if Noah’s wife was Caucasian.
The truth is, we don’t know. And it doesn’t matter. Because those are historical facts and not the story.
What does matter is that casting actors who look like the culture and ethnicities that created the original source material helps us identify with and connect with characters more easily. They let us start from a place of familiarity which allows us to accept certain things about stories that are fantastic without having to suspend our disbelief so much. For example: a Caucasian actor in Asian attire automatically pulls you out of the narrative because you’re constantly reminded that what you’re seeing isn’t real.
The same goes for any sort of cultural appropriation and this
In the past two weeks, there have been two high-profile casting controversies that have caused a stir in the media. The first, in which an Asian actor was cast for an Asian role and, predictably, people lost their minds, was followed by the second, in which a Christian actor was cast for a Christian role and, predictably, people lost their minds.
It’s important to note the similarity between these two controversies because it is reflective of something we see all too often in Hollywood: People are upset that an actor of color is being cast as an actor of color and people are upset that a Christian is being cast as a Christian.
The most recent and egregious example of this came when it was announced that Asian actor Ed Skrein (Deadpool) would play Major Ben Daimio in Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen. There was immediate backlash on Twitter and Skrein responded by walking away from the role and releasing a statement explaining his reasoning behind doing so. “It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people,” he wrote. “Therefore, I have decided to step down so the role can be cast appropriately.”
Many praised Skrein for his decision to do the right thing but there were those who
If I were to be offered a role in Book of Mormon, I would decline. The Bible is something I hold dearly to my heart and is the foundation of my life. If I were offered a role in The Producers, I would decline. I don’t agree with the mockery of Jewish people. If someone asked me to do a “Ching Chong Chinaman” accent, I would decline. It’s racist.
I will never understand why people get so bent out of shape about casting choices for Broadway or Hollywood movies. These are stories being played out by actors and actresses. They are playing characters that someone else wrote. They are not endorsing the words that come out of their mouths or the actions they take on stage or on camera; they are telling a story that was written by someone else.
If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at the person who wrote it – not at the person who is acting it out.
