Zoë Kravitz has opened up in a new interview about her experiences filming the TV series Big Little Lies in California.
The actress, who is currently promoting The Batman in which she stars as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, said that she “felt a little uncomfortable” shooting the HBO series in Monterey because it’s “such a white area”.
“There were a few moments where I felt a little uncomfortable because it is such a white area,” she told The Observer. “Just weird racist people in bars and things like that.”
Kravitz was one of the few actors of colour in the show, which has so far run for two seasons between 2017 and 2019. Big Little Lies was previously criticised by publications including Slate for its lack of diversity.
She added in the interview that her character, Bonnie Howard Carlson, was “originally written for a white person”.
The singer and actress discussed her early acting career rejections when she opened up about attempting to audition for director Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film.
“I don’t know if it came directly from Chris Nolan,” Kravitz said. “I think it was probably a casting director of some kind, or a casting director’s assistant… Being a woman of colour and being an actor and being told at that time I wasn’t able to read because of the colour of my skin, and the word urban being thrown around like that, that was what was really hard about that moment.”
However, since her Observer remarks, Kravitz has shared a letter on her Instagram Stories addressing the “click-bait bad journalism” of follow-up coverage [via Yahoo!].
“I was NOT told I was too urban to play Catwoman in the ‘Dark Knight [Rises]’. It would have made NO sense for me to even be considered for that role at that time,” Kravitz said, referencing false reports that she was rejected from that specific role over the matter.
“I wanted to AUDITION for a small part in the film and was told (I do not know who said this but this was how it was worded to me) that they were not going ‘urban’ on the part. This is something I heard a lot 10 years ago – it was a very different time.”
She continued: “I did not mention this to point any fingers or make anyone seem racist, namely Chris Nolan, the film’s producers or anyone on the casting team, because I truly do not believe anyone meant any harm. I was simply giving an example of what it was like to be a woman of colour in this industry at that time.
“Again, this was many years ago when words like that were thrown around very casually and although I’m very glad that we are attempting to evolve – let’s all calm down – as well as fact check before we write things that are untrue.”
Meanwhile, The Batman director Matt Reeves has provided an update about one of The Batman TV spinoffs, revealing that it’s no longer about corrupt police in Gotham City but will instead detail “the world of Arkham”.
The post Zoë Kravitz “felt a little uncomfortable” filming ‘Big Little Lies’ in “such a white area” appeared first on NME.
