Woody Allen’s recently released memoir “Apropos of Nothing” not only goes over his legendary career, but also confronts the personal issues and criticism he has faced over the decades.
Last week his comments on the #MeToo movement and his sexual assault allegations made headlines, but Vulture has done some more digging into the book and discovered an interesting argument from Allen about the lack of diversity in his films.
Allen’s films are kind of famous for being cast with white actors from top to bottom, bar the odd exception like “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. Allen however says he doesn’t see a problem with how he casts his films and calls himself a supporter of diversity in his private life:
“I’ve taken some criticism over the years that I didn’t use African-Americans in my movies, and while affirmative action can be a fine solution in many instances, it does not work when it comes to casting. I always cast the person who fits the part most believably in my mind’s eye.
When it comes to the politics of race, I have always been a typical liberal and sometimes maybe even radical. I marched in Washington with Martin Luther King, donated heavily to the ACLU when they needed extra to push the Voting Rights Act, named my children after my African-American heroes and said publicly in the 1960s that I was in favor of African-Americans achieving their goals by any means necessary. Anyhow, when it comes to casting, I do not go by politics but by what feels dramatically correct to me.”
Allen’s remarks are similar to his #MeToo defense, saying he’s a big supporter of the movement even as some have cited him as an example why it exists in the first place.
