Reply to Bill Maher on casting decisions and appropriation

Forum Index » Entertainment and Pop Culture

Reply to "Bill Maher on casting decisions and appropriation "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]He’s exactly right. Actors are …. Actors. They’re by definition taking on a role. So so so agree with him. [/quote]

But the when the roles are so siloed and few opportunities for Latinos to play much other than gang members is where we are, we need to consider things. The notion that the right person for the role has to be someone like James Franco assumes that there aren't any Latino actors who could play the roles and also be the right person.[/quote]

They audition before casting. I’m sure they auditioned Latinos.

The role should go to the best actor. Period. [/quote]

Lol they did not go a casting call for the lead in this movie where they brought in a bunch of Latino actors as well as Franco and then decided who to cast based on who had the best audition. This is honestly a charmingly naive understanding of how movies get made. A few clarifications:

- There is virtually never a casting call for a title or lead character in a movie like this, where that person basically carries the film. The exception would be something like Harry Potter where you have to cast an unknown (child actor) into a role people are very familiar with.

- Sometimes big name actors are cast in films before directors are attached, sometimes even before their is a script. They literally get shopped around as “James Franco Castro project” or whatever. Many actors, including Franco, have production companies to help them get projects like that sold to enable them to play certain roles (a role like this is Oscar bait so would be highly desirable for someone like Franco looking to raise his profile). Francis involvement would then be used to get studio interest snd sign on directors, producers, screenwriters, and other actors.

- Even if the project was not built around Franco from the start, the casting process would not involve a regular casting call. Instead, they look at a list of known actors and figure out too choices based on their familiarity with their work, maybe looking at their reel (a highlights package agents use to sell clients by highlighting their range). For someone with as much star power and credits as Franco, that could be enough. At most, they’d narrow it down to a few actors, and have them come in and read. But there is no guarantee this would include Latino actors, even for this role. Remember, they want someone with name recognition. That might not include an actual Latino because there so few latino actors who have that.

- Even if people come in to read, the casting decision is never based solely on who is best for the role. Franco could be middling in his read, and they might still cast him because of the combination of star power and look. They are thinking about what the press packet looks like, how they get attention at festivals, how they sell it. Franco in Castro drag is an easy sell. A less recognizable actor is not, even if they would be phenomenal.

The system is about money and star power. It is not about getting the best actor for any given role. And that’s where Maher’s argument falls apart. The reason white, straight, cis actors are so often cast in POC and LGBTQ roles is not that they are the best actors. It’s that people know who they are already. There are not enough well known POC and LGBTQ actors to get movies made off them. It’s literally a self perpetuating system that consolidates power and access in people who already have it, because it’s deemed financially risky to branch out. It’s not artistic vision.

Maher knows all this. But he also knows this is the sort of hit button issue that tiles people up, and that if he sounds off on it, he’ll get lots of YouTube views and retweets. He’s in business too.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics