There has been a lot of online scrutiny heaped onto Exodus: Gods and Kings even before anyone has had the chance to see it. This comes from the fact that Moses (Christian Bale), Ramses (Joel Edgerton), and other biblical figures will be portrayed by caucasian performers of American, British, and Australian nationality rather than actual Persian actors. Personally, I agree it is a problem, and there should be more of an effort to cast non-white actors (and this is not exclusive to this film).
Director Ridley Scott talked about the controversy with Variety, and… well… he did not do himself any favors with his response.
“I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such,” Scott says. “I’m just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn’t even come up.”
I understand the business side of the problem. He needs to finance his movie. I get that. But to not even have the question come up? That is at the root of the problem. At least have the idea of maybe let’s not cast Whitey McWhiterson as an Egyptian. And “Mohammad so-and-so”? I think we can all see the problem there.
He did have more reasonable things to say in his interview, mainly about his brother Tony Scott, who tragically committed suicide in 2012, which Scott describes as “the wost weekend of my life.” He goes on to talk about the two bonding, even when Tony was going through cancer treatments.
I miss a friend. I’d go to him even when he was doing his recovery, and I’d say, ‘F– the chemo, have a vodka martini,’ and he and I would go out.
That is something a lot easier to agree with. Despite the comments Scott made about the casting, I am still interested to see his take on the Moses story. He is in desperate need of a great movie. It has been a long time since he has made one.
Original report from Variety.
