Maureen Lipman sparked fury by suggesting the ex
Israeli PM should not be played by Mirren. But, says David Baddiel, why shouldn’t ‘authentic casting’ apply to all minorities? And where is the outcry over Bojack Horseman?
Soon after the brilliant It’s A Sin came out, Russell T Davies justified his decision to cast only gay actors in gay parts by saying: “They are not there to ‘act gay’ because ‘acting gay’ is a bunch of codes for a performance. You wouldn’t cast someone able-bodied and put them in a wheelchair … authenticity is leading us to joyous places.”
It would be wrong to suggest that no one questioned this statement, but it became part of an ongoing conversation about casting and minorities. Davies was not, thankfully, mightily abused on
Social Media for saying it – which is what happened last week to Maureen Lipman, after she suggested, on being asked about the casting of Helen Mirren in a biopic of Israel’s former prime minister Golda Meir, that Jewish parts should perhaps be played by Jewish actors.