Drew Barrymore was taken aback when she learned that studio executives had rejected Nia Long for the lead role of ‘Alex Munday’ in the 2000 reboot of “Charlie’s Angels.“
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As previously reported, Nia Long explained why she was rejected for the role in an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, claiming that her agent was told she looked too old next to Drew Barrymore. Long discussed the audition process and what she was told about the film during an appearance on Barrymore’s talk show on Friday. She was also aware that Barrymore was the film’s producer and had no involvement in the decision-making process.
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She said their reasoning was odd but realized years later that the studio execs feared casting a Black woman in a significant role. The film didn’t have any black actors, and during the time, there was an initiative to hire more black people in different roles.
“It was a first time for them. There was this initiative to cast more Black women, have more Black women on set, but Hollywood wasn’t quite doing it because I remember during that time I actually auditioned for so many roles that weren’t written Black to the point where I was exhausted. It was almost like, bring the Black girls in, bring the Black actors in, so we can say that we did it, but we’re not going to necessarily pull the trigger. So, what I will say now is things have changed a little. I thank god for producers like you because I know you’re aware and you’re sensitive to it because you’re having the conversation.”
Barrymore said she and her fellow Flower Films producer reportedly felt nervous after Cameron Diaz and herself were cast for the main roles in addition to realizing that the original 1976 “Charlie’s Angels” had an all-white cast.
‘When we even went in to present ourselves as producers for the film, all the pitches for the combination of the trio all had diversity in it, and that was just something that felt right in our guts at the time. It’s bewildering to me that someone would say those things. First of all, Nan and I would never talk about eyebrows. That’s not what women would do.”
Long said she was glad they were having the conversation about diversity and inclusivity among women in Hollywood as it makes things harder for Black and POC actresses to earn roles.
“I don’t care who you are. It’s harder for us, there’s less roles, there’s less diversity but if we don’t talk to each other … we can next have a show and create something with each other. We have to keep the dialogue going so I appreciate you being brave enough to, with me, have this conversation.”