The issues for people of color in Hollywood run deep – so much so that we occasionally forget how invested the industry can be in denying opportunities to enter this business.
Jada Pinkett Smith landed a coveted role on the show as Fish Mooney, a female mob leader:
So we have a black woman on screen in a major role. But what is happening behind the scenes? Are people of color being represented in other parts of the industry, like doing stunt work? Not so, according to Deadline Hollywood:
After receiving inquiries from Deadline, Warner Bros. has canceled plans to “paint down” a white stunt woman to double for a black actress on its hit Fox show Gotham. On Monday, dark makeup was applied to the face of a white stunt woman in a hair and makeup test in advance of two days of filming next week in New York. After receiving calls from Deadline, WB initially downplayed the significance of the story, but after looking into it said that it had made a “mistake” and would hire a black stunt woman instead.
Really?
Deadline continues:
“Painting down” white stunt performers so that they can pass for black has been going on for decades, even though SAG-AFTRA calls the practice “unacceptable” and “improper.” Blackface went out in the 1930s, but “painting down” white stunt performers goes on to this day, and there is no language in the union’s contract that expressly prohibits it. The union’s contract only requires that stunt coordinators “endeavor” to find stunt performers of the same race and gender as the actors they are doubling. For many black cast and crew members, however, the practice is insulting and demeaning, a holdover from Hollywood’s openly racist past.
Was the industry so lacking in black talent that it was easier to paint a white woman than hire a black stuntwoman?
A few minutes of googling netted me a documentary by La Faye Baker about black stunt women in Hollywood:
Is it because the women featured there aren’t high profile enough?
The Stuntwomen’s Association of Motion Pictures has three black women on the front page: Nicole Callender,
Jwaundace Candece and Kelsee L. King Devoreaux.
No blockbuster experience? Angela Meryl put in work on the sets of Kill Bill, Skyfall, American Gangster, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Warner Brothers said:
“A mistake was made this week in casting a stunt woman for a guest star in a particular scene on the show. The situation has been rectified, and we regret the error.”
We regret this whole situation.
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