Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has slammed the Oscars’ new diversity and inclusion requirements, saying “you make me vomit”.
Films must meet minimum requirements for representation and inclusion to be eligible for the Best Picture award under new rules starting next year.
But Jaws star Dreyfuss, 75, lashed out at the guard rules during an episode of PBS’ Firing Line that aired Friday, claiming the academy was treating people like children by enforcing those criteria.
And he defended Laurence Olivier’s performance in the 1965 film Othello, in which he played the main character in blackface.
The Academy of Motion Picture will exclude films from the Best Picture competition starting in 2024 that do not have enough black, gay and disabled actors in the cast and crew.
Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has slammed the Oscars’ new diversity and inclusion requirements, saying, “You make me vomit.”
Dreyfuss, who won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Goodbye Girl, defied the Academy’s new rules
“You make me vomit,” he says @RichardDreyfuss of new standards for cast and crew diversity for Best Picture #Oscar Authorization.
He also praises Laurence Olivier’s 1965 performance of Othello in Blackface.
“Have I been told that I will never have the chance to play a black man?” (1/2) pic.twitter.com/NcmpZoXe1c
— Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (@FiringLineShow) May 5, 2023
Host Margaret Hoover asked Dreyfuss what he thought of the new inclusivity rules and he replied: “You make me vomit.
“Nobody should tell me as an artist that I have to bow to the latest, most up-to-date idea of morality. What are we risking? Do we really risk hurting people’s feelings?
“You can’t decree that. You have to give up your life and I’m sorry, I don’t think there is a minority or majority in the country that needs to be treated like that.
Dreyfuss, who won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Goodbye Girl, added, “It’s an art form. It’s also a form of commerce and it makes money, but it’s an art.
“And no one should tell me, as an artist, that I have to bow to the latest, most up-to-date idea of what morality is.”
He then defended English actor Olivier, who wore a black face to portray Othello in the 1965 Shakespeare adaptation.
“Laurence Olivier was the last white actor to play Othello, and he did it in 1965,” Dreyfuss said.
‘And he did it with a black face. And he played a black man brilliantly.
“Have I been told I’ll never get a chance to play a black guy? Is anyone else being told not to play The Merchant of Venice if they are not Jewish?
“Are we crazy? Don’t we know that art is art? That’s so patronizing. It’s so, it’s so thoughtless to treat people like children.’
Hoover asked him if there was a difference between the question of representation and who gets to represent other groups?
She highlighted the case of blackface, saying, “Specifically in this country given the history of slavery and sensitivities to black racism.”
But Dreyfuss replied, “It shouldn’t be there. … Because it’s condescending. Because it says that we are so fragile that our feelings cannot be hurt.
“We have to expect that our feelings will be hurt, our children’s feelings will be hurt. We don’t know how to get up and slap the tyrant in the face.’
He defended Laurence Olivier’s performance in the 1965 film Othello, in which he played the main character in blackface
Laurence Olivier pictured with his Variety Club Of Great Britain award for his performance in Othello
Dreyfuss as Elliot Garfield in The Goodbye Girl.
The restructuring of the Academy Awards means that films hoping to win Best Picture from 2024 must hire more black, female, LGBT or disabled cast and crew, or address issues affecting those communities.
Those nominated for Best Picture must meet two out of four requirements.
This includes at least one main character in the film being from an “underrepresented racial or ethnic group”, having at least 30 percent of the cast come from at least two underrepresented groups — minority ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ females or people with disabilities — or the film’s subject matter focus on one.
The organization adopted its Aperture 2025 initiative in 2020, five years after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, to encourage more diversity in the industry, but the move has come under fire ever since.
Led by black filmmaker Ava DuVernay, it was developed by the Academy to set criteria – including diversifying almost every aspect of a film, from cast and crew to production, marketing, financing, distribution and even internships, by 30 percent.
But critics say bright Hollywood bosses are turning the awards ceremony into a political weapon.
Dreyfuss’ actor son Ben, 36, sparked fury on Twitter earlier this year when he declared he would never date or sleep with a “fat person” and encourage a partner to lose weight.
Ben, a writer and self-proclaimed comedian, made the comments in a January 18 thread.
Starting from an independent article entitled “You Need Help: You Fat-shamed Your Beautiful Friend,” he began his “schtick.”
,That’s rude! I’ve never dated a fat person!’ he explained before starting a multi-tweet thread on the subject.