Was Anne Boylen Black?

[webbo3]

Rewriting history for the sake of diversity, perhaps Davis Jason could play Nelson Mandela.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-film-boleyn/black-actor-turner-smith-to-play-english-queen-anne-boleyn-in-new-drama-idUKKBN27F26W

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/13065809/channel-5-race-row-black-actress-play-anne-boleyn/

[Mamyalynne]

Not many people use 'Current Affairs' topic now.

[jourdain2]

Good grief! This is going rather too far don't you think? I can remember the time when it became unacceptable for white actors to play black characters. There was quite a furore and the progressive element was happy with that. If it was unacceptable for white actors to play blacks (notably Olivier's 'Othello' got some stick) then it is equally unacceptable for black actors to play white characters.

I would much rather go back to the time when talent, not colour mattered.

[royfromaus]

Personally, If it's going on the TV as a serious program, I would rather a white man play Buzz Aldrin
A black man play Muhammad Ali
A white woman play Margret Thatcher
A black woman play Florence Griffith Joyner
A white man play Hitler
A black man play Idi Amin
etc.

Theatres or local plays, ok...but not TV or films that are supposedly based on fact.
I do realise that lessens the opportunity for black actors to play many famous historical characters but history is history.

[jackthehat]

I didn't know Jodie Turner-Smith was talentless...

[bednobs]

pperhaps that time is now. Colour clearly doesnt matter here

[jackthehat]

The programme is an exploration of the internal-landscape - thoughts and feelings of Boleyn as her death approached and how she tried to deal with the men shaping her life....and death.
I am not sure historical 'veracity' is particularly important in this context.

[Chinajan]

// I would much rather go back to the time when talent, not colour mattered. //

How ironic then that you're arguing for the exact opposite jourdain2

[jourdain2]

You haven't read what I said china-jan - or at least, you haven't understood what I said. Probably my fault for not explaining enough.

[Chinajan]

I did read but if I've misunderstood what you meant when you wished for talent over colour then I'm listening?

[fcc]

Maybe the person doing the casting is colour blind.

[Mamyalynne]

What a wonderful thought.

[Chinajan]

Indeed Mamyalynne

[jourdain2]

I've re-read, china-jan and perhaps my last sentence was unclear. My point was that Olivier could play Othello - but he 'blacked-up' for some form of verisimilitude. If this lady, who, for all I know is a talented actress, will 'white-up' than there is no problem. But they won't allow that, will they? So there is an implication, visually, that Anne Boleyn was black, which simply isn't true. I apologise for any obfuscation in my original post.
Most of us didn't used to worry about colour in the '60's, '70s' + '80s in my experience - looking back, it seems like a blessed age.

[margarettom]

Good luck to Channel 5 I say, but I won’t be bothering to watch.

[Peter Pedant]

was anne boylen as black as a boiled black pudding ?

no but black was her favourite colour ( and black rather than dun was the most expensive dye )

and along wivver fingers - she had 6 - they thought she had bewitched the King

[Mamyalynne]

Nicholas Sander's speculations about Anne's appearance (he never met her) have long been called into question.

https://www.history.com/news/did-anne-boleyn-have-extra-fingers#:~:text=George%20Wyatt%2C%20a%20biographer%20who,hand%2C%20but%20no%20sixth%20digit.&text=Of%20the%20several%20bodies%20examined,sign%20of%20an%20additional%20finger.

[tonyav]

Was Anne Boylen Black?

Doubtful, otherwise I doubt if Elizabeth 1st would have been a Redhead.

[Chinajan]

Well...thanks for coming back to explain jourdain2

[bednobs]

but jourdain you have just said exactly the same thing - you long for/hark back to the days when colour didnt matter. Well that's exactly what you have got - to this casting director colour didnt matter

[andy-hughes]

I'm inclined to agree with those who point out that this is a psychological drama, not History A Level, so really, the ethnicity of the actress should not be an issue - just her ability to play the role.

No-one is trying to pretend that Anne Boleyn was black, anymore than Glenda Jackson was trying to pretend that King Lear was a woman, when she played him on stage.