While I don’t think you’re wrong in any respect, I think Sam’s point can be more generalized, as so:

Common misconception. Talented Black actors, especially, tend to be trained up the wazoo. Do a bit of research on that and I bet you’ll be surprised.

Lol, what a ridiculous notion. There are good actors from every country, whether it’s the U.S., China, Ghana, or Uzbekistan.

Yep, so hire black American actors, please. Thanks.

As someone who studied dialects, it cracks me up that people think in Elizabethan times they spoke in RP. LOL. If anything, it was closer to a Scottish brogue since they spoke in a rhotic dialect in those days.

He’s literally saying that he imagined how an African-American actor would’ve played the role. Nowhere is it a condemnation of Daniel, or the movie.

Why else would studios hire them? Specially when they’re complete unknowns.

That is not true. It’s a stereotype and an assumption. The Black actor you see playing a thug in some shitty movie is often one of the most trained actors on the set.

Interesting perspective. I didn’t even consider the press circuit. I don’t know why Jordan Peele chose Kaluuya; he was excellent in the role, so that’s the best reason. I don’t want anyone to think that I’m saying this happens for EVERY role or that Black Brits should never be given American roles or anything like…

Black men are in interracial relationships in the UK at a rate around 50%. That i not the case in the US, so it seems to me that wondering if a black Brit would bring the same (or similar enough) perspective is a legitimate question in my opinion.

I think it’s more like the powers that be know that black American stories and black American culture are lucrative, and they want to mine that to make money...but they *really* don’t want to deal with actual black American people. Hiring black Brits gives them a convenient workaround.

A I think we will cope just fine with a diverse casting of Jane Austen

Oh, I meant “safe” as in comfortable to be around for white people, not like American Black people, with less of the pesky cultural weight. And I’ve seen with my own eyes that Black people are just as guilty of making these assumptions, sadly.

I see a lot of people here commenting that they perceive UK tv shows to be better st portraying diversity. That was my impression too, however Riz Ahmed tells a slightly different story.

Although I agree with her point about period pieces (which in a weird way, it’s better that the UK does not attempt to whitewash the past), I actually think that British television is much less encumbered by the limits of ‘black versus white audiences’. So many American shows seem to believe a show with a white lead…

Not to say I don’t gobble these up like candy, but I think the question would be so why is England so very into empire, period dramas?

I have noticed that in British shows, they do a much better job of casting crowd scenes and smaller roles in a more racially realistic way. Like, I don’t see British shows and movies pretending that there are only 2 or 3 non-white people in London the way American shows will attempt to do. That is one way they are…

Did you read his actual comments? Nowhere did he insult that actor. I’m going to believe that he meant exactly what he said he meant.

An interesting corollary to this is the challenge for American actors of color, who not only don’t get considered for an adequate number of roles, but then lose many of the ones they are considered for to black actors from the U.K. or Australia, etc.

What he said was misconstrued. He did not at all say that Brits shouldn’t get jobs here or anything like that. Musing how the role in Get Out might have been played differently by someone with a personal experience with American culture is not a diss. Black Americans know darn well that Black Brits are automatically…