so few Jewish actors in Hollywood
I think there's only 2 in the main cast. Why aren't there more Jewish people in the Entertainment business?
Don't hate on contrarians
I'll look into it.
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MovieChat Forums > This Is Where I Leave You (2014) Discussion > so few Jewish actors in Hollywood
Why are you counting the number of people in any given group who are Jews? Why is it important to you? If your position is that we have to be hyper-aware at all times of who is or isn't Jewish among a set of people, do you also feel that we need to identify who is Jewish with a brightly colored lapel or armband patch of some kind? Perhaps in yellow?
shareauthenticity
Don't hate on contrarians
authenticity
Do you also go around criticizing movies in which the actors playing doctors don't actually have medical degrees? Did you organize a picket line outside of theaters playing Gravity because Sandra Bullock is not actually an astronaut? During his acting career, Tom Hanks has played a ship captain, a castaway, an AIDS-infected lawyer, a man who pretends to be a woman to rent an affordable apartment, and a talking toy without actually being any of those things in his real life. The point of acting is pretending to be something that you're not. So why would you hold Jewish characters to different acting rules? share
Authenticity relating to people's backgrounds has nothing to do with authenticity relating to people's occupation.
shareHave you insisted that actors who play John Kennedy must be Catholic? How about the guy who played Bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty? Did you insist he be Muslim? When Meryl Streep played Margaret Thatcher, did you demand to know why they didn't use an Anglican actress - or whatever religion Thatcher practiced? Or are you one of those idiots who think being Jewish is a nationality? Or that Nicole Kidman should never play anything but an Australian character.
There is no such thing as authenticity in people's backgrounds, nationality, occupation, or religion in movies in the United States. They are actors playing a role.
Hey, the next time I see Don Cheadle, I'm going to ask him how he dared to play any role in Hotel Rwanda when it needed to be played by a native African and, really, a native Rwandan, since because of him, the movie was completely inauthentic.
@otter
Be quiet, troll.
I wonder what kind of conniption you threw when In Her Shoes came out. The main characters are Jewish, but the actresses are an Australian and a Cuban-American.
On a more serious note, a lot of Jewish entertainers change their names. Had you consulted a web page that lists the faiths of the cast members?
So Australians and Cuban-Americans can't be Jewish?
shareJewish is not an ethnicity. It's a religion. A Catholic can play a Protestant, a Buddhist can play a Muslim, etc. It's completely irrelevant.
Frankly, ethnic castings are only relevant for diversity's sake. No one complains about DDL playing an American, only get upset when Ben Kingsley plays every race but his own - because it's taking parts from Chinese actors who can't otherwise get cast. A Jewish actor like (I believe) Natalie Portman, however, can easily play anyone of any faith, if that's even relevant to the plot. So who cares if Gentiles play Jews? Doesn't bother me, and yes I'm Jewish hence my knowing what a Gentile is.
Also, there's a LOT of Jewish folk in the entertainment business. Most of them are directors and producers. Ever heard of Steven Spielberg?
Jewish is not an ethnicity. It's a religion. A Catholic can play a Protestant, a Buddhist can play a Muslim, etc. It's completely irrelevant.
Frankly, ethnic castings are only relevant for diversity's sake. No one complains about DDL playing an American, only get upset when Ben Kingsley plays every race but his own - because it's taking parts from Chinese actors who can't otherwise get cast. A Jewish actor like (I believe) Natalie Portman, however, can easily play anyone of any faith, if that's even relevant to the plot. So who cares if Gentiles play Jews? Doesn't bother me, and yes I'm Jewish hence my knowing what a Gentile is.
Also, there's a LOT of Jewish folk in the entertainment business. Most of them are directors and producers. Ever heard of Steven Spielberg?
... Jews.
Now relax.
Lots of people here with no sense of humor. I got a chuckle out of your post.
If we all liked the same movie, there'd only be one movie!
The cast includes four characters who are supposed to be half-Jewish, so having two Jewish actors makes statistical sense.😎.
And Thomasina played the Nazi card (aka the Argumentum ad Hitlerum) way too soon.