Quentin Tarantino says it’s 'weird' that Brits 'pretend to be Americans' in films
Hugh Laurie absolutely nailed his role as Dr Gregory House, and many would argue Idris Elba's Stringer Bell performance was flawless, but that's not enough to convince legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
In fact, Tarantino doesn't think that any Brits should be playing the role of Americans in movies - or Aussies for that matter.
The American director has flat out rejected the possibility of casting a Brit as the lead for his tenth picture The Movie Critic, admitting he finds it 'weird' when people from the UK or Australia 'pretend to be American'.
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While appearing at Cannes Film Festival, a reporter from Deadline asked him whether he would 'would he look elsewhere like the UK' if he was unable to find the right American to fulfil the role.
"No. The truth of the matter is, yes, obviously, a Brit could pull it off, but I don’t want to cast a Brit," he responded.
"I’m not being xenophobic. Nothing against the Brits, but we’re living in a really weird time now."
He continued: "I think when people look back on this era of cinema and it’s just all these British actors pretending to be Americans and all these Australian actors pretending to be Americans, it’s like phantoms. Nobody is acting in their own voice."
Presumably Tarantino didn't feel this strongly about the subject when he cast Aussie Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate in Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood, where he allegedly asked her not to clean her feet prior to all those bare-footed scenes.
However, Tarantino did go on to note that we're living 'in an era of really, really good British actors who for the most part can pull it off'.
He concluded that American actors had given up their own ground when many British actors became more famous, before comparing the current film landscape to that of the 1970s, which were ruled by the likes of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
The reporter and Tarantino went back and forth about whether Barbara Broccoli would ever cast an American actor as James Bond.
"By the way, I’m not being xenophobic," he clarified. "The Brits would have a hell of a lot more problems if a bunch of American actors came over there with their Dick Van Dyke accents playing famous Brits.
"They don’t want to see that sh*t.”
Ain't that the truth.
Topics: Quentin Tarantino, Film and TV
Emma Rosemurgey