[Tom4784]

Scarlett Johansson has addressed the casting controversies she became embroiled in over the past few years, maintaining that she should be “allowed to play anyone”.

In 2018, the actor stepped down from playing a trans male character in new film Rub & Tug after receiving widespread backlash for the casting decision.

The move angered many trans actors and queer activists, who argued that there was an entire roster of trans male actors to play the role instead of her.

Johansson had earlier acknowledged those who criticised her decision to star in the film with a statement that read: “Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.”

She later called her comments “insensitive” and said: “Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting.”

Now, in a new interview with As If magazine – which the Avengers: Endgame star is now claiming has been “edited for clickbait” – said: “You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job.”

“I feel like it’s a trend in my business and it needs to happen for various social reasons, yet there are times it does get uncomfortable when it affects the art because I feel art should be free of restrictions,” Johansson continued, adding that “society would be more connected if we just allowed others to have their own feelings and not expect everyone to feel the way we do”.

Just one year earlier, criticism was sparked upon the announcement Johansson was to play the lead in a live-action version of Japanese anime Ghost in the Shell; fans accused it of being another example of Hollywood “whitewashing”.

Just one year earlier, criticism was sparked upon the announcement Johansson was to play the lead in a live-action version of Japanese anime Ghost in the Shell; fans accused it of being another example of Hollywood “whitewashing”.

Scarlett Johansson says controversial casting comments were ‘edited’
In Marie Claire’s March cover interview, Johansson said: “I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-a9003991.html

The story is a few days old but it's one that promotes an interesting conversation. For the sake of clarity, ScarJo has since clarified her comments to essentially say that acting should be free of political correctness and that it's an actor's job to embody someone other than themselves.

When it comes to race, I think racebending is fine as long as the character's race isn't an important part of the story but I don't think a white person should ever play a black character or a black character play an asian person ETC. The creator of Ghost in the Shell actually supported her casting but I remember feeling uncomfortable when she went around calling herself 'Motoko Kusanagi'. I think there's wriggle room when it comes to stories like Ghost in the Shell but I just think that film handled it poorly. I think Altered Carbon did a better job of telling that kind of story better.

I do disagree with controversies surrounding cisgendered actors portraying trans characters though. I think it's great if you can cast a trans person in the role but I think the story is often more important than the actor portraying it. I also think there's a certain level of hypocrisy in the reaction to Scarlett being cast in that film that was highlighted well by Sonique who is a trans drag queen who basically made the point of saying that a lot of trans people complain if they are only considered for trans roles so if they want to play cisgendered roles then they can't really oppose the opposite either.

Same with sexuality really, there was a film released a year or two ago called Love, Simon and that got hit with a lot of controversy from the LGBT community because the lead wasn't a gay actor and I find that ridiculous. Actors shouldn't be limited to only playing their sexuality and actors shouldn't be typecast for it either.