Casting in Hollywood can be hard work. Especially when there aren’t enough non-White actors to go around.
That’s basically what Lionsgate Gods of Egypt director, Alex Proyas, is saying in response to outrage over the predominately White cast in the upcoming flick. For the unfamiliar, Egypt is in Africa, so it makes absolutely no sense that all of the main actors are White. However, this has been the way of Hollywood for years now. Old habits must be hard to break.
Even though Lionsgate didn’t notice until after the fact, the studio is very sorry about this turn of events:
“We recognize that it is our responsibility to help ensure that casting decisions reflect the diversity and culture of the time periods portrayed. In this instance we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and diversity, for which we sincerely apologize. Lionsgate is deeply committed to making films that reflect the diversity of our audiences. We have, can and will continue to do better. ”
Proyas was born in Egypt to Greek parents, and moved to Australia. But again, it’s not easy to pluck out a diverse group of actors, so he too chimed in with an excuse/acceptance of guilt. “The process of casting a movie has many complicated variables, but it is clear that our casting choices should have been more diverse,” Proyas said. “I sincerely apologize to those who are offended by the decisions we made.”
Director Ava DuVernay says the apology is a good step.
https://twitter.com/AVAETC/status/670621098950574080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
To be fair, Gods of Egypt’s main cast does feature Black actor, Chadwick Boseman (the guy who plays Black Panther in the upcomping Captain America: Civil War film). The rest of the crew is mostly European, including Scottish actor Gerard Butler, Rufus Sewell of England, and Danish actor Nikolaj Cost-Waldau.
Gods of Egypt debuts February 2016. You can watch the trailer below.
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Photo: screenshot
