Oh Shit! Oh Dear! The perpetually offended are at it again. It seems that actors, these days, are not supposed to act. Actors can only take roles within the confines of narrowly defined boundaries established by our politically correct superiors.
Want to find a bigot? Search for a liberal. Here are some of the actors who misappropriated roles and pretended to be somebody they aren’t.
Al Jolson, in blackface, as Jakie Rabinowitz, in The Jazz Singer, the first “talking” motion picture. (Photo by AS400 DB/Bettmann Archive) 
Sammy Davis Jr. in blackface
Throughout the fifties, sixties and seventies Rock Hudson was a leading man. He was a heterosexual icon that the ladies swooned over. Turns out it was all in vain. Rock was queer as a three dollar bill.
Get a rope! Linda Hunt won an Academy award for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Billy Kwan, an Indonesian guy.
Another casting horror!
When I started this post, I was going to point out that De Niro should be roundly condemned for going against established type. I went through the list of his movies and discovered I was wrong. De Niro is an asshole, so were most of the characters he portrayed.
The whole politically correct movement is about leveling. Merit and ability has no place within the movement.
John LeCarre died just recently. To say he wrote spy stories is to do him a disservice. Two of his books: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley’s People were turned into a BBC miniseries. Alec Guinness played the main character, George Smiley. Smiley was a character that played a recurring role in LeCarre’s books. He once said that he had a vision, in his mind’s eye, of George Smiley. After watching Guinness’s portrayal of George Smiley, his image of Smiley was replaced with that of Sir Alec Guinness. Was LeCarre mad? Check out the dedication of LeCarre’s book, The Secret Pilgrim. “For Alec Guinness with affection and thanks.” Guess not.
Sir Alec didn’t play against type. But his merit and ability took the character to a level that it’s creator hadn’t considered.
One thing you can bank on with liberal wackos is that they have no sense or irony or humor.
