Did Paul Schrader Strike Blow Against Woke Actors?

Accepting a role in the Age of Woke took on new, alarming challeges.

Straight actors suddenly had to think twice before tackling gay characters on screen. Non-black performers couldn’t give voice to black animated figures.

Oscar winners later apologized for taking roles they shouldn’t have accepted in the first place. (But they kept their trophies)

Wanna play someone confined to a wheelchair? You better be physically challenged or face the consequences.

And don’t even think about playing a trans person if you don’t identify as your biological makeup. Just ask Scarlett Johansson and Halle Berry how that works.

So when director Paul Schrader wanted to make a movie about three corrupt black brothers, he ran into a similar problem. The white writer/director behind films like “First Reformed” and “Raging Bull,” initially invited Antoine Fuqua to co-direct the film with him.

He assumed that a black director might keep the woke scolds off his back. Except Fuqua later left the project.

Schrader ran into a second, more intractable issue. He says no black actors would line up for the gig. (Hat Tip: World of Reel)

“We sent it out to actors, and no Black actors wanted to play in a movie where there are no good Black people,” he said. “And it sort of died. But then AI came along, and I didn’t need Black actors.”

The actors’ arguments are silly. The media landscape features plenty of black artists portraying a variety of characters – noble figures, villains and folks who fall somewhere in between.

“Sinners,” a horror film that nabbed 16 Oscar nominations last year, featured all of the above.

One movie featuring three corrupt black brothers won’t impact the zeitgeist a whit. That should give one pause when hearing Schrader’s confession.

It seems unlikely that no black actor would take on a role in a major filmmaker’s project. What about struggling actors who audition for months on end with no results?

Or, Schrader wanted a “name” black actor and came up empty for the reasons he describes.

We’ll have to wait and see what the finished film looks like. That’s assuming it ever happens. Will Schrader get backers to fund a movie where key actors are played by A.I. constructs? We’ll soon see Val Kilmer “return” to the screen via “As Deep as the Grave.”

That’s a bit different (and understandably ghoulish despite the Kilmer estate’s approval)

Will other actors refuse to co-star in the project on those grounds? Might industry pressure force  Schrader to backpedal on these plans? For every artist tinkering with A.I., like Danny Boyle, others are dead-set against it.

Either way, the promise of A.I. has a major storyteller using it to overcome a cultural rift. If the results impress, future stars should think twice before turning down work.

The chance might not come again.