Ridley Scott taking on the Bible seems like a sure bet. With a cast including Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro, Sigourney Weaver, Aaron Paul, and Ben Kingsley, EXODUS: GODS AND KINDS may be the biggest Bible epic in decades. Still, since casting was first announced, many noticed that there were a lot of Caucasian actors gracing this epic set in ancient Egypt. In this day and age where movie actors from across the globe have proven their worth in Hollywood films, why such a white-washed roster of talent?
In an interview with Variety, Ridley Scott explains the casting decisions were purely the price of doing business.
“I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such,” Scott says. “I’m just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn’t even come up.”
While he could have put it a little more eloquently, EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS is far from the first film to feature white actors playing “ethnic” roles. Going all the way back to THE TEN COMMANDMENTS or as recently as NOAH, these films have featured the top acting talent that can also sell tickets. Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton are incredibly talented actors who are likely a major factor in people deciding to go see EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS. While that doesn’t mean an Egyptian or performer from a country in the nearby Mediterranean couldn’t hold their own in such a project, it just isn’t in the financial cards.
Before we judge Scott on these comments alone, he explained a bit further in this Yahoo Australia interview.
Egypt was –- as it is now -– a confluence of cultures, as a result of being a crossroads geographically between Africa, the Middle East and Europe. We cast major actors from different ethnicities to reflect this diversity of culture, from Iranians to Spaniards to Arabs. There are many different theories about the ethnicity of the Egyptian people, and we had a lot of discussions about how to best represent the culture.
In the end, does it really make a difference as long as the film is respectful of the characters and the story? Ridley Scott does not seem like the type to make blatantly racist film decisions nor does EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS look to be anything but reverential to the original story. Here’s hoping folks give the movie a chance and remember that it is just a story, not a historical reenactment.
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS opens on December 12th.
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