Bill Maher made an incredibly strong argument Friday night that Hollywood is destroying itself by sorting actors into narrow alleys based on their heritage, sexual orientation, identity, etc.
The Real Time host made his case, and frankly, you should listen because it cuts to the core…that casting directors are now taking cues from the casting cops.
He lays out his case, starting with John Leguizamo, who was incredulous that James Franco was cast to play Fidel Castro, saying, “End the appropriation of Hollywood…Boycott! It went wrong.” Bill noted that John, a Colombian actor, is not Venetian, but he plays one … he’s neither a little Frenchman nor an Italian plumber … but yes, he plays them, too.
As he says, “People become actors so that they can spend their lives without being who they are.”
He notes that Sean Penn won an Oscar for playing gay activist Harvey Milk … that was once considered brave … now it’s the opposite.
Eddie Redmayne plays a transgender woman, but now he calls it a mistake. Bill asks if the logical conclusion is that trans people can only play trans people, but that’s clearly not something they want.
Ditto straight people playing gay people…something Tom Hanks says he now regrets. So can gay men play a clean romantic role? The idea is to get rid of prejudices, not roles, and that requires allies.
On the subject of Hanks … should he have played Forrest Gump who was mentally challenged?
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On another fun note – and we mean fun – check out Bill’s take on what the FBI seized at Mar-a-Lago. It’s absolute hysteria!
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