Anne Boleyn: Critics praise Jodie Turner-Smith but find fault elsewhere

Judging from comments online, the fact that a black actress has played Anne Boleyn in a TV drama seems to have got Telegraph and Daily Mail readers frothing at the mouth. I don't see the problem in giving a black actress the chance to play a white role, especially in a drama where artistic licence is allowed. A white actress probably wouldn't look like Anne Boleyn anyway, or sound like her, behave like her, etc. If audiences can accept Laurence Olivier as Othello or Fiona Shaw as Richard II or Shakespeare plays set in the modern era, why can't they be colour blind?

Totally agree Jo. Drama is about the human condition. Historical accuracy - well any actor who has ever played Henry VIII didn't look exactly like him. So why focus on skin colour as a point of physical difference? The answer is in the question.

Acting is acting, so why not? But I think the objection is due to the suspicion that they ONLY wanted a black actor, and ONLY invented Anne Boleyn's gayness for inclusion and quota purposes.

Does that mean a white man can portray Nelson Mandela or Obama on film ?

Great points, Wyot and Honey. Regarding the reasons for objecting to this casting choice, though some of the comments I saw yesterday referred to this being part of a "woke" agenda, more seem to be saying that because Anne Boleyn was white she should be played by a white actress, with some pointing out that there would be an outcry if a white actor were to play the likes of Nelson Mandela.

Green Man wrote:
Does that mean a white man can portray Nelson Mandela or Obama on film ?

Yes so far as I'm concerned - but it would draw criticism for "cultural appropriation".

Wyot wrote:
Green Man wrote:
Does that mean a white man can portray Nelson Mandela or Obama on film ?

Yes so far as I'm concerned - but it would draw criticism for "cultural appropriation".

What comes around goes around.