Bryan Cranston is Being Forced to Defend Himself for Playing a Quadriplegic in a Movie
Source – Bryan Cranston has defended his latest role in The Upside after drawing criticism that he was taking the role from a disabled actor.
The Breaking Bad star plays a paralysed billionaire who decides to hire an unemployed parolee (Kevin Hart) to be his carer.
Speaking to PA about his casting, the 62-year-old said: “We live in the world of criticism – if we’re willing to get up and try something, we have to also be willing to take criticism.
We’re very aware of the need to expand the opportunities for people with disabilities. I think being cast in this role as a quadriplegic really came down to a business decision.”
He continued: “As actors, we’re asked to be other people, to play other people.
“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?
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“I don’t know, where does the restriction apply, where is the line for that? I think it is worthy for debate to discuss those issues.”
About six months back I wrote about almost an identical situation to this, when Scarlett Johannson backed out of taking the role of a transgendered character after taking a ton of heat for it. No disrespect to ScarJo, whom I love, but she took the coward’s way out. She got bullied and she took it. She backed down. Out of some warped idea of what social justice is, some new rules laid down by an untold number of total strangers online, she was ordered to give up a lucrative job opportunity playing the kind of role that used to win you acting award nominations. And she did.
So now, inevitably, we’re seeing it happen again. Only this time to arguably one of the most popular and likeable figures in Hollywood, Bryan Cranston. Only he’s going full Heisenberg on the SJWs and not taking their shit.
Make no mistake, for a Hollywood celebrity, saying this takes cast iron balls. This is as close as you can come to arguing this particular point without incurring the wrath of the Thought Police. And in 2019, just answering the complaints runs the risk of a news cycle filled with “Rich, Privileged Celebrity to the Handicapped: ‘Take a Hike!'”
Sure, in a perfect world, paralyzed people would get plum starring roles in major motion pictures. We don’t live in that world. Sorry, but you’ve got to live reality on realities terms. If Warner Bros. was going to make “Superman 2000″ about Kal-El’s golden years retirement, Christopher Reeves was not getting the part. It was a harsh truth, but everyone understood it.
As far as this role goes, Cranston is right to admit he’s in it because it’s a business decision. Put some average schlub who happens to have the misfortune of being disabled in the movie for authenticity or to help the guy make some money, and nobody’s interested. Put Bryan Cranston in there, stretching his considerable acting chops, and people will buy tickets. Or at least rent it on demand. Studios aren’t in the business of handing out roles to nobodies because they feel bad for them.
For the record, here is a list of guys who have won Best Actor Oscars playing someone who had some type of disability, ailment or disease they didn’t actually have, just in the last 20 years or so:
Dustin Hoffman, 1988. Rain Man. Austism
Daniel Day Lewis, 1989. My Left Foot. Partially paralyzed
Al Pacino, 1992. Scent of a Woman. Blindness
Tom Hanks, 1993. Philadelphia. AIDS
Tom Hanks, 1994. Forrest Gump. Intellectual disability
Nicholas Cage, 1995. Leaving Las Vegas. Alcoholism
Jack Nicholson, 1998. As Good as it Gets. OCD
Jamie Foxx, 2004. Ray. Blindness
Colin Firth, 2010. The King’s Speech. Stuttering
Matthew McConaughey, 2013. Dallas Buyer’s Club. AIDS
Eddie Redmayne, 2014. The Theory of Everything. ALS
Leonardo DiCaprio, 2015. The Revenant. Survivor of Bear Rape
That’s more than half the Best Actor Oscars given out in that time. And all those awards should be given back because these healthy, able-bodied stars were pretending to be something they weren’t. A creative process that until 2018-19, was thing we used to call “acting.”
The bottom line is, if you’re arguing Bryan Cranston can’t play a paralyzed guy because he is not paralyzed, then taking your logic to the extreme means he’s only qualified to play Bryan Cranston. And every other actor in the world is entitled to play only themselves.