Actor Billy Dee Williams, known for playing Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise, made some very interesting comments about blackface while speaking with Bill Maher. The 87-year-old actor reveals his belief that actors should be able to do blackface without any consequences.
In an interview with Bill Maher, Williams made the comment while discussing Laurence Olivier’s portrayal of Othello. He explains just how hilarious the 1965 adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy was to him, specifically because Olivier wore blackface for the role.
Here’s what Williams stated via HuffPost, via Club Random
“When he did Othello, I fell out laughing,” Williams began. “He stuck his ass out and walked around because Black people are supposed to have big asses,” he continued.
“I thought it was hysterical. I loved it,” Williams added.
Maher, in response, told Billy Dee Williams that actors couldn’t pull off blackface today as they did back then. Williams retorted:
“Why not? You should do it.”
“That’s your point of view,” Maher added.
“If you’re an actor, you should do anything you want to do,” Williams asserted.
Maher explained that while “that’s a great point of view,” he adds that “the theater would be bombed.” He adds that Williams “actually lived in a period where you couldn’t play the parts you should’ve played.”
Williams concluded:
“The point is — you don’t go through life feeling like, ‘I’m a victim,’” Williams said. “I refuse to go through life saying to the world, ‘I’m pissed off.’ I’m not going to be pissed off 24 hours a day.”
It’s certainly an interesting perspective. Especially as the entertainment industry evolves and grows distant from their past which did once utilize blackface as a key factor in many different performances.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Billy Dee Williams and his career as we have them. He recently began promoting his memoir titled “What Have We Here? Portraits of a Life” which was released earlier this year.