Woody Allen is not well known for casting ethnically diverse actors in his films.
Last week, he unveiled the cast for his next untitled movie, which includes Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Bruce Willis and Blake Lively – a typically starry cohort lacking in diversity.
But Hazelle Goodman, the only black actress to play a significant role in one of Allen’s film’s – quirky prostitute Cookie in 1997’s Deconstructing Harry– has defended the director’s seemingly all-white “vision”.
“Any film-maker has the right to create his vision. That’s his vision. That’s how he sees the world. And he has a right to that, just like if Spike Lee does a film, he puts a lot of black folk in it,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Everyone is creating from their vision. If Woody sees the world that way, that’s Woody’s world. I don’t trip about that.”
Goodman, who has left acting to serve as a minister to women in prison, said she thinks progress on diversity in Hollywood has improved but it is still a “challenge” for black, minority and ethnic actors to stand out.
“There seems to be progress. But it’s an ongoing saga that we see in Hollywood, on billboards, on covers of magazines. It’s a white world that we’re looking at many times.” – The Independent