Life
Idris Elba says Racial Debate Over his ‘Thor’ Role is ‘Ridiculous”
People were so desperate for any sign of color at the Feb. 27 ceremony that many media outlets, including the Boston Globe, accepted as fact the rumor that True Grit nominee Hailee Steinfeld’s mother is part African-American. (Steinfeld’s rep told The Hollywood Reporter (THR) that the claim, spread on the Internet in recent days, is erroneous.)
It isn’t lost on black actors, though, that Steinfeld, because of her debut performance in the Coen brothers’ Western, is already on the list of hot emerging stars that’s being closely monitored by power brokers throughout Hollywood. It’s harder, and takes longer, for emerging black actors to get on the same roster. Being cast in movies made primarily for white audiences can help exponentially.
For while Hollywood knows the market for black films is circumscribed, it also realizes that black audiences can boost grosses on movies aimed at wider audiences. Studios rely heavily on black moviegoers to turn out for their mainstream films. Blacks, who represent 13% of the U.S. population, buy 12% of all movie tickets, according to the latest statistics from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
“The prosperity of the African-American audience is enormous, and they contribute formidably to the bottom line for films like Iron Man or Transformers,” one veteran studio executive says.
Animated films also do huge business among black audiences. In 2009, Disney released its first toon featuring a black princess, The Princess and the Frog, and it grossed $267 million worldwide.
Seeking out roles, regardless of color, allows black actors more opportunities and the chance to build a following among general audiences.
When Anthony Mackie set his sights on playing Sgt. JT Sanborn in Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, he and longtime manager Jason Spire had some convincing to do. The part was written for a white male.
“That was the play we decided we were going to make,” recalls Spire, who signed Mackie when the actor was attending Juilliard and Spire was still an agent at Gersh. “Unless there is actually a reason why a role has to be a certain color or a certain ethnic background to be pivotal to the story, in my opinion, all roles should be colorblind. There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be.”
Although Mackie had worked in film for nearly a decade, starring in a number of acclaimed indies, it was only after his performance in eventual best picture Oscar winner Hurt Locker that doors began opening wider. He has a substantial role in Universal’s The Adjustment Bureau, opening March 4, playing a guardian angel to Matt Damon’s character. And in February, he closed a deal to star in one of Hollywood’s more high-profile studio projects: Fox’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
