They couldn’t find anyone else? Really? (updated)
Tropic Thunder is a movie starring Jack Black and Ben Stiller. Originally a black actor was cast for a role but he dropped out and they replaced him with…..Robert Downey, Jr. Which would be fine except they didn’t change the race of the character in the movie. So Downey, who is obviously white, is playing a black man. Predictably this is causing some, uh, controversy. As people have asked, you couldn’t find a capable black actor to fill the role? They had to get a white guy to do it? Seems pretty odd. There’s more at this article, including pictures of Downey playing his part.
Update: See comments below
I can’t tell by that article if Downey is supposed to be playing a black man, or if he’s supposed to be playing a white actor playing a black man.
If its the former, its obnoxious. If its the latter, it could be hilarious, or at least crappy but not offensive. I mean, it sounds like the plot of Soul Man or White chicks.
You know a friend of mine made the same point as well. Given the presence of Jack Black and Ben Stiller, I’m thinking its the latter, that they are going for the humor. A comedy high wire act to be sure but not necessarily the bad intentioned thing I intially thought the article was implying. I guess we’ll see when it comes out.