I've been reading the book and according to the book Alec Haley, Queen's husband, was half White, 1/4 Native American, and 1/4 Black. He's the son of a slave woman and the Overseer. The movie has him played by Danny Glover, who is obviously nowhere near that ethnic makeup.
Could they not have gotten a better Casting Director?
They were going with known names/faces..
why are you so concerned about it!
"I dont chase anyone who wont chase me back....BB"
not only that but mixed people come in all shades. there is not set look for mixed people. take Tyson Beckford, Naomi Campbell, and Elizabeth Atkins Bowman all mixed and none of them look mixed
"Why thank you Ouiser...ain't nothin' like a good piece o' ass!"
bad examples anyone w/ eyes can tell they are ethnically mixed their facial features give it away
shareSo are you implying that he (the actor) has to be light skinned to play the role. I didn't see a problem with Danny Glover in the role. Just my opinion please don't take it personal.
Rafiqa $.
Yeah, it was a bit of an odd choice. Most of the casting seem to be off. But I'm gonna have to agree and be the minority here and not bite your head off.
I masturbate a lot
Hah! For me, nothing beats "Roots: the Next..." and seeing Damon (Fake Lionel) Evans morph into James Earl Jones. Now THAT'S bad casting!
share Yeah, mroe then a few casting choices (at least when it comes to looks) is off, to say the least and WTF. I know enthicities/genetics can vary alot, hell I come from a mixed Puerto-Rican family. But it's not *that* common as people make it seem to be.
I masturbate a lot
It was hardly cast with A list actors save for Danny Glover. Ann Margaret hadn't been A list in decades. Tim Daly? In his dreams. Jasmine Guy? Successful enough on 'A Different World' but only a big star to fans of that show. Halle? Still on her way up not a huge star yet.
Real logic? Pressure. Plain and simple. Odd times in Hollywood really. Lots of pressure to cast more minorities(visible minorities if you get what I mean). Imagine if they told Halle "You're too black to play Queen" and you know Queen was mixed so not much of a leg to stand on except for that...
Queen's described as being white as cotton and fooling people throughout the movie. I was not buying Halle in beige face as white and not buying that she would fool anyone ever(good thing she had her nose job by then or I'd have spent the entire mini-series laughing at their choice instead of just cringing).
Honestly I can't remember a single big name light skinned actor from that time who could have played the role Danny Glover took. I don't remember any famous light skinned actors. Just that guy who played Sandra's husband on The Cosby Show. He wasn't really famous. Oh wait maybe that guy who's in every other special on PBS for big broadway shows. I just can't remember his name. Still not a big star but rather light and with reasonably keen features.
Now that I think about it, the mini-series really should have cast the mixed characters entirely from actors on A Different World and The Cosby show. I might have bought Lisa Bonet or Sabrina Le Beauf as Queen. Particularly Lisa who practically glows even if her hair and features are obviously mixed(but not to everyone for some reason). Yeah so throw in Geoffry Owens and it's fairly believable. Okay believable until you realize Denise is in love with Elvin and Whitley's Denise's mom.
Sorry it just always bugged me because Halle's almost Phylicia Rashad's shade. Features wise she looks as black as Phylicia Rashad even though they have different types of features they're still very much black features ya know? I wouldn't buy Phylicia Rashad as a white woman in a million years. I don't care if you pile geisha makeup on her she's just nowhere near believable. For me it's the same with Halle. Features + complexion not buying her as a white woman or a part black woman who looks white. It just always bugged me.
Don't get me wrong Halle can sell me Revlon foundation till the cows come home. Really she can sell me just about anything. She's beautiful and perfect for cosmetic endorsements. But I can't buy her in Queen. Maybe if they omitted the bits about her being white as cotton and fooling people but that was pretty much the whole plot in a nutshell.
So yeah I know it can't/doesn't bother everyone. But the casting has always bugged me.
Late to the game in posting, but oh well.
When this mini-series came out, I remember the publicity and interviews addressed the skin color issue in casting. I recall that Danny Glover was Alex Haley's choice due to his acting skills and presence, and that Alex had always had Glover in mind as he shaped the storyline. So I got the impression that persona, not skin tone, was more important for whomever played Alec.
For the Queen role, I recall Jasmine Guy being disappointed at not being cast as Queen, and a comment made either by her or by someone else that she wouldn't have needed to powder her skin to appear more white the way Halle did. It didn't come off as resentment towards Halle or the producer's choice of Halle skin color when Jasmine's skin color might have been more "right", it just came off as disappointment that Jasmine didn't get a role that meant a lot to her. While I adored Jasmine, I never thought she had the right level of vulnerability to play Queen, so I thought it was good that she got the Easter role.
Anyway, when the series came out, it was a big deal since a slavery story focusing on a pretty American girl seemed like it would be very identifiable to Americans. Ironic that Roots, whose characters were people originally from Africa, would be the one most people remember for its power and messaging. I have to work to remember scenes from Queen, but Roots? Many of those scenes are seared into my memory as if I'd been there.
Ironic that Roots, whose characters were people originally from Africa, would be the one most people remember for its power and messaging. I have to work to remember scenes from Queen, but Roots? Many of those scenes are seared into my memory as if I'd been there.