Speaking to Glamour, Jodie Turner-Smith, who played Force cultist Mother Aniseya, has directly addressed the backlash. She describes how thrilled she was to be working with actors who were utterly committed to the characters – "I’ve never worked with anybody who’s handed me an essay on their character," she recalls of Amandla Stenberg – but the experience soured. "She put so much care and thought and love into that, and it’s disappointing to feel like your studio is not having your back in a very public-facing way," she notes, before continuing:
"They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting fucking dog-piled on the internet with racism and bull****. It’s just not fair to not say anything. It’s really unfair. It would just be nice if the people that have all the money were showing their support and putting their feet down. Say this is unacceptable: ‘You’re not a fan if you do this.’ Make a really big statement and just see if any money leaves. I bet you it won’t, because people of color, and especially Black people, make up a very large percentage of buying power. They might find that it’s actually more lucrative for them, but everyone’s using ‘woke’ like it’s a dirty word."
Posted by cmaia1503
4 Comments
Amen
she’s absolutely right. there needs to be more accountability from these companies and everyone in charge when they send these actors of color to the frontlines to take all the heat for decisions they didn’t make. they hire these hopeful (TALENTED) people who are excited to play roles in a universe they never got to see themselves in, and then allow them to be torn apart with no pushback. disney/marvel, the directors, and the producers should all be shutting down the bigots from day one and standing IN FRONT OF their actors. this had gone on too long.
She’s right.
It’s infuriating that she even has to put her own career at risk to talk about this. Disney doesn’t give a fuck about its actors of colour and caters to its racist white fanbase again and again.