Samuel L Jackson clarifies comments on black British actors working in Hollywood
"It was not a slam against them," says the Kong: Skull Island actor after he spoke out against Daniel Kaluuya’s casting in Get Out
Samuel L Jackson has clarified comments he made earlier this week, where he criticised the casting of a black British actor in a movie about race relations in America.
The iconic actor had landed himself in hot water after he said that he wondered what the new movie Get Out would have been like if an American had been cast in the lead role.
In the US film, British actor and star of The Fades, Black Mirror and Psychoville Daniel Kaluuya plays an African-American photographer alongside Girls star Allison Williams as his girlfriend.
In a previous interview with US radio station Hot 97, Jackson had said: “I think it's great that movie's doing everything it's doing and people are loving it. But... I know the young brother who's in the movie, and he's British.
Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams in Get Out
"I tend to wonder what that movie would have been with an American brother who really feels that. Daniel grew up in a country where they've been interracial dating for 100 years," he continued. "What would a brother from America have made of that role? Some things are universal but [not everything is]."
It prompted Star Wars actor John Boyega to tweet: “Black brits vs African American. A stupid ass conflict we don’t have time for.”
However, now Jackson has clarified his comments, stating that it was more a dig at the industry in Hollywood.
"It was not a slam against them," he said in an interview with the Associated Press. "But it was just a comment about how Hollywood works in an interesting sort of way sometimes. We're not afforded that same luxury, but that's fine, we have plenty of opportunities to work," he said.
"I enjoy their work," he said of British actors. "I enjoy working with them when I have the opportunity to do that."
