Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman

[robskynyc]

Not sure if it belongs here or off topic but...

This is ridiculous. People are genuinely upset they cast her (a brit) to play Harriet (an american). It’s called f*%#*g acting. They don’t hire real life murderers to play murderers or rape victims to play rape victims. People should be happy that didn’t cast Scarlett Johannson. It’s so pathetic. Can’t please everyone I guess.

[CT2NYC]

It's idiotic. There are plenty of things in the world that deserve real outrage. This is not one of them.

[qolbinau]

Kill me now.

[dramamama611]

Didnt a Brit play MLK in the most recent film? I dont remember outrage there.

Who, exactly, is upset...I s it coming from a specific source or is this a general thing? I didnt even know there was a film being made, yet alone hear outrage

[ViniFromBrazil]

Sometimes people see on  the internet 10-20 people arguing about something idiotic, and the response here is so dramatic that it makes you think that the first argument was some sort of consensus. It was not, it's been a small percentage of people who have said that and the world's still normal... chill out people...

[CT2NYC]

ViniFromBrazil said: "Sometimes people see on the internet 10-20 people arguing about something idiotic, and the response here is so dramatic that it makes you think thatthe first argument was some sort of consensus. It was not, it's been a small percentage of people who have said that and the world's still normal... chill out people..."

It's not a matter of the response on here being overly dramatic. The criticism was substantial enough for Cynthia to post about it on Instagram, so I'm assuming it was more than 10-20 people.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwF2GKHdjo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[Plannietink08]

It is a ridiculous point to make and I remember Samuel L. Jackson making the same criticism about the lead actor in GET OUT.

[Mediamaven2]

Was curious so went to google

https://www.essence.com/entertainment/cynthia-erivo-black-british-actress-harriet-tubman-movie/

Not to make it a bigger deal because it is a very very very minor deal. Unlike theater I think the US has a very large film industry as compared to UK so it makes alot of sense that british actors find work here. 

I think she'll be great in the role and look forward to seeing it.

[NievesG]

Plannietink08 said: "It is a ridiculous point to make and I remember Samuel L. Jackson making the same criticism about the lead actor in GET OUT. "

Oh, boo. I remember first seeing Kaluuya in Black Mirror and knowing he would be involved in something great. But I digress.

To the point, the minority experience is vast and so long as actors respect the historcial characters they play, why should any of this matter?

 

Editing to add this all reminds me of Ben Kingsley of Ghandi... I guess these people complaining can take issue with that, too.

[Valentina3]

Ben Kingsley playing Gandhi was very very very different. Cynthia Erivo has lived her life as a black woman, and all that comes with it. Her experience isn't singular, and she can relate with most African American actresses. Ben Kingsley is a white guy who "visited" India to prepare for the role. He didn't go through the discrimination Gandhi did. His portrayal was also white washing of history (more on the script than he himself), for lack of a better word. I hope if there's another Gandhi movie made, an Indian guy would be cast to play the part.

[Mediamaven2]

Excellent point Valentina3.

[scripps]

dramamama611 said: "Didnt a Brit play MLK in the most recent film? I dont remember outrage there."

Yes, along with another Brit as his wife, and another Brit as LBJ, and another Brit as Wallace. Yes, there was a bit if outrage about that.  

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Nobody can ever have nice things anymore. Sigh.

Erivo will be sheer brilliance.

[Mister Matt]

And Meryl Streep played Margaret Thatcher. The are always people using outrage as a hobby.

[ChildofEarth]

Slavery wasn’t just limited to the US. People forget these little things.

She will be brilliant.

[quizking101]

This needs to be Cynthia Erivo’s EGOT role.

I thought Daniel Kaluuya was stellar in GET OUT and never guessed he was British. It’s called ACTING.

Also adding to the list of British people playing iconic Americans, Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan (in Lee Daniel’s The Butler, no less)

[qolbinau]

Let's start a protest that only real mormons should be cast in The Book of Mormon.

[NievesG]

I don't disagree with you at all, Valentina3. I'm just drawing some parallels where casting is concerned. That being said, outrage should extended to casting like what we saw with Ghost In the Shell.

[Plannietink08]

Valentina3 said: "Ben Kingsley playing Gandhi was very very very different ... Ben Kingsley is a white guy who "visited" India to prepare for the role ... His portrayal was also white washing of history (more on the script than he himself), for lack of a better word. 

I'm not defending the casting of Kingsley at all and I agree that many Indian based actors could have played that role just as well but Ben Kingsley isn't white. He was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji and his father was a Kenyan born Indian man.

 

[orangeskittles]

Usually when these controversies hit and people make the excuse "It's called acting! You don't have to murder people to play a murderer!" I think it's a bull**** strawman argument to excuse insensitive cultural casting choices against under-represented minorities.

That said, I think claiming a dark skinned woman of African descent who even shares similar features can't play Harriet Tubman because her ancestors weren't literally American slaves is taking it too far. This isn't a straight actor playing gay, or an Anglo Saxon blonde woman playing Asian (Scarlett, Emma, Tilda...). It's not as though any African American actress in Hollywood has first-hand experience as a slave either.

What's next, a teenage Jewish girl can't play Anne Frank because her ancestors weren't in the Holocaust?

[adamgreer]

I had no idea Daniel Kaluuyah was British until reading this thread.

With regards to the topic at hand, I don’t see any issue with Erivo playing Harriet Tubman, and also had no idea people were worked up about it until reading this thread.

That being said, given Erivo’s history, I don’t feel bad at all that she’s getting some social media hate over this.

[Impossible2]

adamgreer said: "

That being said, given Erivo’s history, I don’t feel bad at all that she’s getting some social media hate over this."

Seriously...karmas a bitch x

[Valentina3]

Plannietink08 said: "Valentina3 said: "Ben Kingsley playing Gandhi was very very very different ...Ben Kingsley is a white guy who "visited" India to prepare for the role ...His portrayal was also white washing of history (more on the script than he himself), for lack of a better word.

I'm not defending the casting of Kingsley at all and I agree that many Indian based actors could have played that role just as well but Ben Kingsley isn't white. He was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji and his father was a Kenyan born Indian man."

Yes, that is indeed important context. Thank you for bringing that up. I agree that Ben Kingsley was a better choice than, say, Sir Patrick Stewart (sorry, only other bald english actor I could think of :) ). But something about the fact that an English-born actor would play the part of the guy who played arguably the biggest part in India's independence from the British did not sit well with me and a lot of fellow Indians. The screenplay and direction completely downplayed Gandhi as he was, and made him into a saint-like figure. Having said that, Ben Kingsley did inhabit the character exceptionally well.

Erivo will be great in this role. I'm looking forward to the movie.

[Writergirl28]

Guys, I am one of the "internet trolls" whose has been talking about  Cynthia Erivo playing Harriet. I will try to explain to you what the issue is. Il hope you will listen with an open mind to what I have to say. I am a Descendant of  American Chattel  Slavery living in this country for over 250 years. A DACS. You know the history of slavery correct? Brought over to America, to work for free, beaten, murdered, mutilated, raped, lynched, etc. Kept from going to college until the 60's. Imprisoned for no reason generation after generation. Kept from buying homes. Kept out of movies and broadway until fairly recently. And that's the issue. DACS actors were kept out of movies until about 10 years ago. I'm talking major roles. And still there are only about 1-2 per year available. These are good roles, oscar type roles that every DACS actor wants. Imagine thousands of black women actors fighting for 2 roles per year? White women get, hundreds or thousands to choose from. Now imagine that in the UK, Black Brits are not hired for any roles because of racism. What do they do? They come to the US. So now add Black Brits and Africans to the numbers of black Americans vying for 1-2 roles per year. Sometimes one of those roles is about the history of DACS, black Americans. Imagine growing up your whole life and NEVER seeing a story about a positive part of your history. That happens to ALL African Americans. We can go a lifetime and never see a movie about our history. Other people have always told our history. Getting it wrong and sometimes being very racist. That has real world consequences. (police officer breaks into a black mans home and kills him because she was afraid)White people can go about, 15 minutes, turn the channel, there's whole channels about your history. This is why it was such a slap in the face, when one of the very very few good roles for black American women, actually about THEM becomes available, it is given to a woman who is not only NOT American,but is from an African tribe that sold people to America. And this isn't the only time, as you mentioned this has happened before. Now again, if you get to have thousands of movies made each year about you, this isn't a problem if some Brits take a few roles. But if you get one movie A LIFETIME, that you dreamed about since you were a child, and it is deemed that a foreigner who knows absolutely nothing about that subject is the best to tell it, well you'd be upset too And remember, you were kept from telling your story in the past, now it's happening again.. And also, Cynthia has been caught on the internet retweeting posts that say nasty things about African Americans. There are screenshots. So yeah, upset. Any question?

[Bwayfan292]

People like you piss me off. Its literally acting. Be glad a movie is even being made. stop trying to be “woke”.

you’re not. 

Any questions?