Idris Elba has said that debates about Black British actors taking roles away from Black American performers prompt an “unintelligent argument”.
The conversation around casting reached its peak when Daniel Kaluuya was nominated for an Oscar for his starring role in Get Out, a film about racism in the US.
At the time, Samuel L Jackson famously commented: “I tend to wonder what that movie would have been with an American brother who really understands that,” suggesting that racism was different in the US to the UK.
Appearing on internet talk show The Shop (via The Root), Elba was asked by host Maverick Carter about British actor Naomi Ackie playing Whitney Houston in forthcoming biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
“You know what I noticed?” Elba responded. “You said Black women in America versus an English woman. Like being English makes you less Black? To me, that defines how unintelligent the whole argument is.
“No disrespect to anyone who has that feeling, it is what it is. But the fact is: we’re all Black… But amongst ourselves we want to point fingers because we come from a conditioning that makes people just make sure ‘Where’re you from?’ and ‘Are you authentic from where you’re from? How Black are you?’”
Elba continued: “It comes down to the caste system and it’s annoying to me, really annoying. My grandfather fought the Second World War for this country, US, comes from Kansas City. I come to this country and someone says to me, ‘You ain’t American’ and I’m like, ‘Huh?’ How dare you.
“It’s acting. Cultural appropriation is definitely something we should pay attention to. But in the acting profession, one should be allowed to play.”
Ackie’s Houston biopic has been backed by the late singer’s estate and has been written by Bohemian Rhapsody’s Anthony McCarten.
It is currently scheduled for release on 21 December.
