While the film doesn’t seem to have the awards season legs that Amazon hoped it would, “Being the Ricardos” is still gaining a lot of attention, particularly for the lead roles played by Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. However, those casting choices also came with a fair amount of controversy, particularly with choosing the Spanish Bardem to play real-life Cuban actor Desi Arnaz. “Being the Ricardos” filmmaker Aaron Sorkin isn’t a believer in that controversy, and the recent trend of backlash when LGBTQ+ roles are given to cis-gender, straight actors.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Sorkin was once again asked about the controversy surrounding the decision to cast Bardem as Arnaz in his latest talky drama. And as he has shown in the past, Sorkin is unabashedly against any sort of designation that says certain roles have to be played by certain people, whether it’s based on ethnicity, sexuality, or any other qualifier.
“It’s heartbreaking and a little chilling to see members of the artistic community resegregating ourselves,” Sorkin explained. “This should be the last place there are walls. Spanish and Cuban are not actable. If I was directing you in a scene and said: ‘It’s cold, you can’t feel your face.’ That’s actable. But if I said: ‘Be Cuban.’ That is not actable. Nouns aren’t actable. Gay and straight aren’t actable. You can act being attracted to someone but can’t act gay or straight. So this notion that only gay actors should play gay characters? That only a Cuban actor should play Desi? Honestly, I think it’s the mother of all empty gestures and a bad idea.”
Obviously, Sorkin’s film is far from the first feature to experience this sort of backlash. Over the past several years, perhaps the most obvious example of this is Scarlett Johansson’s role in “Ghost in the Shell.” Oh, and also Johansson’s almost-role in “Rub & Tug,” which would have seen the actress play a trans man. With inclusivity being a hot button issue in Hollywood, we’ve seen many studios make concerted efforts to change the way casting has been done in the past. But as of now, it appears Sorkin is not a subscriber to those ideas.
“Being the Ricardos” is now available on Amazon Prime Video
