While celebs in Hollywood are currently protesting over the unfortunate demise of Geoge Floyd in police custody and actors like Michael B Jordan are urging producers to start investing in black talent, there was always a time when black actors were denied any big roles. When a studio as big as Fox decides to ignore a black talent, the instance is proof that racism runs very deep and there's no way it's going to end anytime soon. Fantastic Four director Josh Trank in his recent interaction revealed how he wanted to cast a black actress for the role of Sue Storm but the studio never encouraged his thoughts. Josh Trank Breaks His Silence on the Fantastic Four Reshoots and Why He Left the Standalone Star Wars Movie.
"There were a lot of controversial conversations that were had behind-the-scenes on that. I was mostly interested in a black Sue Storm, a black Johnny Storm and a black Franklin Storm,” he said in his interaction with Geeks of Color. "But when you’re dealing with a studio on a massive movie like that, everybody wants to keep an open mind to who the big stars are going to be. When it came down to it, I found a lot of pretty heavy pushback on casting a black woman in that role,” he further added.
The role was eventually offered to Kate Mara and while Trank has no qualms about it, he feels he should have exited the project soon after reading their thoughts. "When I look back on that, I should have just walked when that realization hit me, and I feel embarrassed about that, that I didn’t just out of principle. Because those aren’t the values I stand for in my own life, and those weren’t the values then or ever for me. Because I’m somebody who always talks about standing up for what I believe in, even if it means burning my career out, and I feel bad that I didn’t take it to the mat with that issue. I feel like I failed in that," he said. Cole Sprouse Says He Was Arrested at Black Lives Matter Protests Held For George Floyd's Death (View Post).
The movie had a bad run at the box office and Marvel is currently thinking about a possible reboot of the same. In fact, John Krasinski is in talks to play Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 08, 2020 11:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).