One thing is for certain when it comes to movies made in Hollywood – sometimes studio executives will come up with the most illogical demands imaginable. And it turns out that the new Harriet Tubman biopic titled Harriet was no different. According to a new interview, screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard revealed a rather interesting fact – that, at one point, a studio executive had wanted to cast Julia Roberts as Harriet Tubman.
Of course, this didn’t occur with the new version of Harriet that has finally been released after a lengthy development history. Rather, this occurred when Gregory Allen Howard very first tried getting the Harriet biopic made. According to him, the issue started with a studio executive located at Disney in the 1990’s.
Here’s what Howard had to say specifically about the ordeal:
“Harriet, which was set up at Disney 26 years ago, was my first assignment. When I got in the business, I wanted to tell these historical stories by turning them into entertainment. I didn’t want to give history lessons. I wanted to turn Harriet Tubman’s life, which I’d studied in college, into an action-adventure movie. The climate in Hollywood, however, was very different back then. I was told how one studio head said in a meeting, ‘This script is fantastic. Let’s get Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman.’ When someone pointed out that Roberts couldn’t be Harriet, the executive responded, ‘It was so long ago. No one is going to know the difference.'”
It definitely paints a picture of how bizarre Hollywood was when it came to accurately portraying minorities not too long ago. The real Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and managed to not only escape, but save many other slaves over the course of her life. It would’ve simply been disturbing to see Julia Roberts cast in that role.
Thankfully, we now have actress Cynthia Ervio portraying Harriet Tubman in the new adaptation.
Harriet is currently in theaters.
Source: Focus Features