Jackson criticises casting British actors for African-American roles

Samuel L Jackson has recently criticised films for casting black British actors in African-American roles. During an interview with New York radio station Hot 97 while promoting his upcoming film Kong: Skull Island, the veteran talked about the casting of Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out, a horror film that talks about how white American liberals treat black men and women. Pointing at Kaluuya in Get Out,  Jackson said, “I know the younger brother who’s in the movie, and he’s British.” “There are a lot of black British actors that work in this country. All the time. I tend to wonder what would that movie have been with an American brother who really understands that in a way. Because Daniel grew up in a country where they’ve been interracial dating for a hundred years. There’s only about eight real white people left in Britain … So what would a brother from America made of that role? I’m sure the director helped. Some things are universal, but everything ain’t.” Apart from Kaluuya, Jackson mentioned the decision to cast David Oyelowo as civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr in Selma as another example. “There are some brothers in America who could have been in that movie who would have had a different idea about how King thinks or how King felt,” he said. Meanwhile, John Boyega, the British star of the new Star Wars films, criticised the debate later on Twitter, posting, “Black brits vs African American. A stupid ass conflict we don’t have time for.”