Aaron Sorkin Blasts Woke Casting Based on Race: ‘Mother of All Empty Gestures and a Bad Idea’

Hollywood writer-director Aaron Sorkin is once again defending his casting choice of Spain’s Javier Bardem to play the Cuban-born Desi Arnaz in the Amazon Studios movie Being the Ricardos, saying casting based on race is the “mother of all empty gestures.”

He added that woke casting amounts to “resegregating ourselves” over characteristics that are “not actable.”

In an interview with the Britain’s Sunday Times Culture magazine, Aaron Sorkin responded to continued backlash he is facing for casting a Spanish actor to play a Cuban character.

“So this notion that only gay actors should play gay characters? That only a Cuban actor should play Desi? Honestly, I think it’s the mother of all empty gestures and a bad idea,” he said.

“You can act being attracted to someone, but can’t act gay or straight. So this notion that only gay actors should play gay characters? That only a Cuban actor should play Desi? Honestly, I think it’s the mother of all empty gestures and a bad idea.”

— Sunday Times Culture (@ST_Culture) December 19, 2021

Sorkin said it is “heartbreaking” and “a little chilling” to see artists “resegregating ourselves” over characteristics like race. “This should be the last place there are walls,” he said. “Spanish and Cuban are not actable.”

Watch below:

In the interview, Sorkin also defended Gina Carano, saying the actress didn’t deserve to be fired from Disney+ series The Mandalorian for publicly comparing how conservatives are treated today with being Jewish during the Holocaust.

“I could rebut some things she said, but I don’t think she should lose her job because of it,” he told the newspaper. “On the other hand, if they’re losing advertisers because she’s on the show, that’s different. That’s life in a democracy.”

Sorkin previously defended his casting of Bardem last month in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in which he said there is nothing offensive about a Spanish actor playing a Cuban character.

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