Queen Cleopatra's Adele James: Anger at casting a Black actress is misplaced
Adele James speaks exclusively to RadioTimes.com about being cast as the lead for Netflix's Queen Cleopatra.
When Netflix announced the cast of its brand new docudrama Queen Cleopatra, there was outrage from some following the show's decision to cast Black biracial actress Adele James as the lead.
The choice sparked complaints, with some Egyptians arguing that their history had been 'falsified', while the Egyptian Government released a statement from its Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities saying that artefacts and coins of the time proved that Cleopatra possessed a “light complexion” with Greek “Hellenistic characteristics".
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, James opened up about the views from the public, admitting that she found the anger towards the show's choice to cast a Black actress "upsetting."
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"I think it's misjudged," she explained. "I think people's anger is quite misplaced for the fact that it's a docu-drama. So you know, there is a documentary element to it. There's academic research to support the casting choice, and also while I absolutely am of Black ethnic heritage, my mum is white, so I'm a mixed race actress."
James continued: "I'm a biracial actress playing a potentially, based on academic research, biracial historical figure. So for me, it's a bit frustrating and upsetting obviously, but also it reduces the whole series to one element of what we're trying to talk about here and I think that's just a shame. I'm glad that the tide is turning away from that a little bit now."
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Despite expecting this response from the general public, James, who starred in British soap Casualty, said it didn't discourage her from taking the role.
She continued: "I love a challenge! I feel sad that I had to accept off the bat that there would probably be some negative responses to it. But that's never stopped me from wanting to do anything in my career or my life.
"I think it's really important that people are represented fairly and adequately and there are plenty of versions of Cleopatra that already exist with fairer skinned actresses. So why not have someone new play her that's my skin tone? That would never stop me from taking a role!"
Executive producer Jada Pinkett Smith previously opened up about her choice to cast a Black Cleopatra, saying: "We don't often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them! Cleopatra is a queen who many know about, but not in her truth."
Meanwhile, director Tina Gharav also spoke out after the backlash to casting a Black actress.
In a first-person piece for Variety, she wrote: "For me, the idea that people had gotten it so incredibly wrong before — historically, from Theda Bara to Monica Bellucci, and recently, with Angelina Jolie and Gal Gadot in the running to play her — meant we had to get it even more right.
"Why shouldn’t Cleopatra be a melanated sister? And why do some people need Cleopatra to be white? Her proximity to whiteness seems to give her value, and for some Egyptians it seems to really matter."
Queen Cleopatra premieres on Netflix on Wednesday 10th May 2023. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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