Posted: Mon 15 Aug 2005 17:55 Post subject: #9b Actor Wentworth Miller (The Human Stain)
Actor Wentworth Miller navigates biracial politics
Tyrone has just in formed me there is already a profile for him - oh well - this is an addendum. Apologies.
Wentworth Miller just did a really interesting interview with EURWeb.com. Miller will soon be starring in the Fox series “Prison Break” and has recently played Mariah Carey’s love interest in her music videos, but most of us first saw him as the young Anthony Hopkins in the film “The Human Stain.” In that film, Miller played a biracial young man who chose to pass as white.
Miller is himself biracial, and talks very openly and honestly in this article about the role his identity has played in his career:
Miller’s fair skin affords him the opportunity to seek characters written for both African American and white actors, however, the burgeoning star follows his own guidelines when it comes to casting calls.
“I tell my representatives that you can send me out on any ethnicity roles, or roles that were written for Caucasians if race is not an issue in the movie,” he explains. “I think the race of the actors starts to matter if race matters in the movie. If you want to do an all-Eskimo production of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ I mean God bless you, I can’t wait to see it. But if it’s an all-Eskimo production of ‘Gone with the Wind,’ that’s obviously a little more problematic”…
“I have had the experience of being caught between two different communities,” he says. “You are neither one thing nor the other, nor can you be accepted fully by either community, which means you’re kind of a lone ranger – which has its advantages. I won’t pretend that I haven’t escaped the business end of the race stick in large part. I’ve never been pulled over for driving in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time of night. I’ve never had to pay for a meal before I’ve eaten it. But at the same time, racial community – I think in its best sense – provides identity and security and support. And I sometimes think if I ran into trouble, as my character eventually did in “The Human Stain,” who would come to my aid? The answer may be no one. As in the movie, no one comes to his support. Not his black friends and not his white friends.”
Last edited by Liana on Tue 16 Aug 2005 04:38; edited 2 times in total
Posted: Mon 15 Aug 2005 19:25 Post subject: Re: #23 Actor Wentworth Miller (The Human Stain)
Liana wrote:
«»Actor Wentworth Miller navigates biracial politics
Wentworth Miller just did a really interesting interview with EURWeb.com. Miller will soon be starring in the Fox series “Prison Break” and has recently played Mariah Carey’s love interest in her music videos, but most of us first saw him as the young Anthony Hopkins in the film “The Human Stain.” In that film, Miller played a biracial young man who chose to pass as white.
Miller is himself biracial, and talks very openly and honestly in this article about the role his identity has played in his career:
Miller’s fair skin affords him the opportunity to seek characters written for both African American and white actors, however, the burgeoning star follows his own guidelines when it comes to casting calls.
“I tell my representatives that you can send me out on any ethnicity roles, or roles that were written for Caucasians if race is not an issue in the movie,” he explains. “I think the race of the actors starts to matter if race matters in the movie. If you want to do an all-Eskimo production of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ I mean God bless you, I can’t wait to see it. But if it’s an all-Eskimo production of ‘Gone with the Wind,’ that’s obviously a little more problematic”…
“I have had the experience of being caught between two different communities,” he says. “You are neither one thing nor the other, nor can you be accepted fully by either community, which means you’re kind of a lone ranger – which has its advantages. I won’t pretend that I haven’t escaped the business end of the race stick in large part. I’ve never been pulled over for driving in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time of night. I’ve never had to pay for a meal before I’ve eaten it. But at the same time, racial community – I think in its best sense – provides identity and security and support. And I sometimes think if I ran into trouble, as my character eventually did in “The Human Stain,” who would come to my aid? The answer may be no one. As in the movie, no one comes to his support. Not his black friends and not his white friends.”
I thought his character in the movie was generationally mixed(both parents were of mixed ancestry)?
Posted: Mon 15 Aug 2005 23:05 Post subject: Wentworth Miller
Quote:
"I tell my representatives that you can send me out on any ethnicity roles, or roles that were written for Caucasians if race is not an issue in the movie,” he explains. “
Excuse me, but isn't an actor supposed to try for any role he can manage? I notice that Jewish actors don't exclude themselves from playing Nazis or anti-Semites. Anthony Quinn played Greeks, Italians, Eskimos, Slavs, Indians, etc. He didn't wait for roles that featured a part-Irish Mexican.
Posted: Mon 17 Oct 2005 13:38 Post subject: Re: #9b Actor Wentworth Miller (The Human Stain)
Liana wrote:
Actor Wentworth Miller navigates biracial politics
But at the same time, racial community – I think in its best sense – provides identity and security and support. And I sometimes think if I ran into trouble, as my character eventually did in “The Human Stain,” who would come to my aid? The answer may be no one. As in the movie, no one comes to his support. Not his black friends and not his white friends.”
Ok I finally watched this movie, I had it for a while, and got a bit under the weather Saturday and watched it.
I liked it, and I'm glad the movie didn't start out with the viewers knowing he was mixed race.
In responding to Wentworths above question, I would say it depends on what person your talking about. Coleman who passed as a Jew and no one knew he was part black? or Wentworth Miller who is open about his racial admixture? As a Jew there are a whole lot of people who would come to his aid as well(the character)
There were a lot of analogies in the movie, one being the crow that was human raised
This is definately a movie I will add to my dvd collection
Last edited by gemini072 on Mon 17 Oct 2005 14:29; edited 1 time in total
Wentworth miller is not biracial. His father is half African American, one quarter English and one quarter Jewish, while his mother is of French, Dutch, Syrian and Lebanese descent.
I think that makes him Multiracial. Definitely multiethnic.
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