Hollywood's Arab typecast: terrorist

Published: October 4, 2007, 10:56 am

Tags: islam, los angeles, entertainment, middle east, arabs

Welcome to the post-9/11 minstrel show. The LA Times today dedicates its Column One to the plight of Arab and Arab-American actors looking for work in Hollywood. It's an interesting chapter in the old tale of typecasting. Sayed Badreya's saga embodies the issue well:The burly, bearded Egyptian-born actor has played an array of menacing characters in a 20-year Hollywood career. He'll appear with Robert Downey Jr. in next year's "Iron Man" as an Arab arms dealer who kidnaps the hero. In 2003, he and Issawi made a short film called "T for Terrorist" in which an Arab actor, frustrated with endless terrorist roles, takes over a movie set at gunpoint.Badreya recalls when he first arrived in Hollywood in 1986. "I couldn't work. I was too handsome," he laughs. "So I put on some weight and grew a beard, and suddenly I was working every day and playing the angry Arab."Some of the younger Arab newcomers to Hollywood look down on Badreya's career as one spent reinforcing stereotypes. Badreya,

[ Full article ]

Blog link

Rating: 0

Comments