Jeffrey Wright is a brilliantly gifted character actor who works nonstop. Lucky for us! He originated the role of Belize on Broadway in Angels in America — winning a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play — and was the only cast member to reprise their role for the HBO film adaptation… for which he once again nabbed awards. The fact that his first and only Oscar nomination came in 2024 is criminal (Best Actor for American Fiction). This year alone he appeared in The Agency, The Last of Us, The Phoenician Scheme, Spike Lee’s latest joint Highest 2 Lowest, plus The Wizard of the Kremlin, which just premiered at the Venice Film Festival (Jude Law plays Vladimir Putin, yikes!). Collider just published an in-depth interview with Wright, and I do mean in-depth. Wright’s commentary is so sharp, though, that I ended up inhaling the article. Here’s an excerpt of one section, where Wright incisively addresses the asinine backlash he got for playing Commissioner Gordon in 2022’s The Batman
Although Wright is eager for The Batman: Part II, set to start at the beginning of 2026, the actor is also conscious of the response to the character from the public. “I really find it fascinating the ways in which there’s such a conversation, and I think even more of a conversation now, about Black characters in these roles,” he says, visibly frustrated. “It’s just so f–king racist and stupid. It’s just so blind in a way that I find revealing to not recognize that the evolution of these films reflects the evolution of society, that somehow it’s defiling this franchise not to keep it grounded in the cultural reality of 1939 when the comic books were first published. It’s just the dumbest thing. It’s absent all logic.”
…Wright pretty publicly shut down those comments at the time, but as conversations about casting characters with actors of color rather than white actors continue, Wright’s frustration is understandable.
“What I love about our Batman is how gritty and granular and accessible it is. Ours is a Gotham that’s born out of ‘70s noir in terms of its cinematic aesthetic — ‘70s noir New York,” he explains, contrasting Reeves’ take with Christopher Nolan’s sleek Gotham and Zack Snyder’s desaturated city. “Obviously, New York City is the template for Gotham, and if you look around New York City, of course, today, it’s a multicultural place. So, any Gotham within a contemporary film in the Batman series that’s going to be authentic has to be reflective of a modern American metropolis. That’s just what it is.”
As ever, Wright emphasizes that his priority was to ground Gordon in the qualities of his comic book character, while modernizing him for the 21st century. “The thing is, as well, I feel that I own these stories as much as anyone. Perhaps now, because I’m a part of them, I have the most skin in the game,” he says, noting that while he respects others’ connections to these characters, he expects the same respect in return. Pointing to the original creators of Batman, he adds, “Bob Kane and Bill Finger are two Jewish guys up in the Bronx, imagining heroes and villains in a city that looked like the city around them at the time, but I think what they imagined was open-ended. I think that the success and the longevity of these stories and characters are owing to the openness of their imaginations and what they created.”
“It’s just so f–king racist and stupid” sums it up, but then Wright elaborates with a tremendous amount of grace and thoughtfulness, in my opinion. I’m not sure I would be as clear when dealing with stupid racists in an uproar over… the casting of a fictional character. In 2019 I was near apoplectic at the vile responses to Halle Bailey’s casting in Disney’s live action Little Mermaid. All those whiny snowflakes (sea-star-flakes?) crying that only a white redhead was the real Ariel who, again, is a mermaid. Frankly, I think film casting writ-large is way too rigid. Audiences know the difference between a story and a documentary; we know we’re watching actors interpret roles as opposed to historical footage. That’s why I’m usually lukewarm with forays into de-aging technology, as well. Just trust us to follow the story in the hands of talented artists, whatever they look like! Then again, I thought the populace was smart enough to pick a president, so maybe I’m the stupid one after all.
Photos credit: KIKA/Wenn/Avalon, Stefano Costantino TTL/Avalon, Stefano Costantino TTL/Avalon
I’ve always enjoyed watching Jeffrey Wright, ever since I saw him play a bad guy in Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson. He’s one of those actors that when they show up, you know he’s going to be interesting.
And he’s right. It’s stupid to quibble.
I loved American Fiction–and not just because it was filmed in my hometown–it was just a really wonderful, moving “slice of life” film.
And everything he’s saying here is so spot-on. Peoples’ attachment to comic book characters adhering to a specific race (white) is just so fucking dumb. They’re fictional CHARACTERS–they can be anything they want to be. Directors bringing their own style to the Batman franchise (including casting choice) is what makes it so fun. It would be boring and redundant otherwise.
So many effin snowflakes in this world offended by everything smdh.
I’m ambivalent about color-blind casting. On the one hand, it provides increased visibility for Black actors; on the other hand, it can lead to the impression that a particular society was less racist than it really was. The other issue, as people have brought up, in the case of Bridgerton, is that “color-blind” casting isn’t really color-blind: colorism still runs through the casting choices, with lighter-skinned actors chosen for the more prominent roles.
We just need to work a lot harder to break down racial barriers.