Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis on being the only white guys in Black Panther: "this is what black actors feel like all the time"
The British actors had an enlightening experience on the set of the new Marvel blockbuster
Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis say they've gained a new understanding of how some of their fellow actors feel while working on Hollywood movies.
The two English stars are the only major white characters in Marvel's new hotly anticipated blockbuster Black Panther – about T'Challa, the eponymous superhero and king of fictional African nation Wakanda – and quickly realised how being the ethnic minority on set feels.
"Making the film, it's not lost on you," Freeman tells the new issue of Radio Times magazine. "You think, 'Right, this is what black actors feel like all the time.' And Andy wasn't there often, so I was like, 'Oh yeah, I'm the white guy. And I'm the English white guy.'"
Serkis agrees, and suggests the pair were grateful for the experience of having the tables turned on them.
"[Director] Ryan Coogler said to me and Martin, 'Guys, I have to tell you this, but this is the first scene I've directed with two white actors in it.' That's an incredible perspective to find yourself in."
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Read the full interview with Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis in the new issue of Radio Times magazine, which comes in three different covers and includes a free 16-day guide to the Winter Olympics
