Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty; Hulton Archive/Getty
Javier Bardemis defending his casting as Desi Arnaz in the new filmBeing the Ricardos.
“Where is that conversation with English-speaking people doing things likeThe Last Duel, where they were supposed to be French people in the Middle Ages? That’s fine,” he continued, “but me, with my Spanish accent, being Cuban? What I mean is, if we want to open the can of worms, let’s open it for everyone. … We should all start not allowing anybody to play Hamlet unless they were born in Denmark.”
Bardem said when the role came to him, he knew “for sure” that he was “going to give everything that I have.”
According toTHR, Bardem’s rep emailed the magazine a day after the interview to add more of the star’s thoughts on the matter, acknowledging, “I do recognize that there are many underrepresented voices and stories that need to be told, and we should collectively do better to provide access and opportunities for more American Latino stories and storytellers.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Kidman, 54, faced criticisms for her casting as Ball, as well. The Oscar-winning Australian actress said onLive with Kelly and Ryanearlier this month that she “wasn’t initially” anxious about taking the part at first, but it waswhen the “reality of playing her hit me” that she began to have doubts about being able to faithfully portray the comedy icon.
“I went, ‘What have I said yes to?’ — to which I then went, ‘Oh no, I’m not right. Everyone thinks I’m not right so I’m going to try to sidestep this,’ " she said. “And the producer Todd Black and [writer/director] Aaron Sorkin were both like, ‘Absolutely not.’ I was in Australia and they were like, ‘No.’ And thank God, because then I was so grateful because I got to fall in love with her.”
Being the Ricardosis now playing in select theaters and streaming Dec. 21 on Amazon Prime Video.
source: people.com
