American actor Samuel L Jackson recently told a New York radio station ‘Hot 97’ that Hollywood should stop constantly casting black British actors in American roles.
“There are a lot of black British actors in these movies. I tend to wonder what that movie [Get Out] would have 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. What would a brother from America have made of that role? Some things are universal, but [not everything],” he said.
Jackson added that US filmmakers believe British actors are “better” because of their classical training, but that “these actors may not particularly understand the roles they’re playing” when compared to their American counterparts.
Incidentally, in an interview with The Observer, Jordan Peele, who directed Get Out, said that he was initially apprehensive of casting Kaluuya for his film, but was impressed with his performance. “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,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jackson’s comments have drawn flak on social media with many stating that talent matters more than where the black actors come from.
.@SamuelLJackson slams the use of Brits to play Americans. So should @RobertDowneyJr turn down Sherlock Holmes? Meryl is a serial offender?
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) March 8, 2017
@THRGlobal @THR @SamuelLJackson Come on Sam. British white actors have been taking over for years. Black actors too. Their training is great
— hannahgant (@hannahgant) March 9, 2017
Pic: Sporcle.com
