Breaking Bad star defends playing disabled character
Bryan Cranston has defended playing a disabled character in his latest film, saying his casting as a man with quadriplegia was "a business decision."
In The Upside, the US actor plays a wheelchair-using billionaire who hires a former criminal, played by comedian Kevin Hart, to be his live-in carer.
"As actors we're asked to play other people," said the Breaking Bad star.
Cranston said the subject was "worthy for debate" and there should be "more opportunities" for disabled actors.
Yet he maintained he was entitled to play characters whose attributes and abilities differed from his own.
"If I, as a straight, older person, and I'm wealthy, I'm very fortunate, does that mean I can't play a person who is not wealthy, does that mean I can't play a homosexual?" he mused.
"I don't know, where does the restriction apply, where is the line for that?" he told the Press Association.
more... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46793406
Personally, I think an actor is an actor - they are supposed to be playing characters they aren't the same person as in real life. What's next - you can't portray a murderer unless you go out and kill someone first?
Unfortunately news reporting is getting lazier and lazier to the point where even absolute nonsense from twitter gets reported and printed in mainstream newspapers so I have no idea if it has been actual wheelchair users complaining, or whether any fuss has come from the people who seem to be perpetually offended on behalf of someone else.
Films get funded by people who can see a potential return on their investment. Bryan Cranston is a name to sell a film and get viewers. Nobody is going to invest in a film starring Bob Cripple who is there purely to give authenticity by being unable to do things without assistance.
Give me a part in a film and I might manage to turn up for work often enough to get the production complete by 2050!
