Halle and Cuba's Casting Issues

16. Halle Berry is one of the most beautiful woman on the planet! Is he threatend by her? So what if she was called a black barbie? She is very talented and has the oscar to prove it. Sounds to me like he's mad he can't get with her...............

Posted at 9:47AM on Aug 9th 2006 by L. Killroy

17. I cant stop laughing at the fact that she hit someone, backed up, and then drove away and GOT AWAY!! WTF!!?
Anyway both may have oscars but don't know how the hell they got them cuz I've seen better performances from Angela Basset, Don Chedle, Sophie Okendeko, Cicely tyson...but to each their own.
Still they're not horrible actors and should have been given a fairer chance.

Posted at 9:56AM on Aug 9th 2006 by Hell to the No

18. #8(ADS):
Halle received the Golden Globe and the Emmy for "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge." You are confused. Those are the top prizes one can get for a made for cable movie. I think you thought it was a theatrical release which would have been the only way she could have one an Oscar for it. It was not.

Posted at 9:59AM on Aug 9th 2006 by Wanda

19. Correcting a mis-spelling: I meant to say "won an Oscar" in my previous post. I also want to add that one thing Ms. Berry has always shown herself to have is class. I cannot imagine her doing something as embarrassing and low-class as showing her unshaven legs or discussing her armpit hair on television and then declaring it a "Black Woman's thing " like the overbearing and embarrassing Mo'nique (or however she spells it.)

Posted at 10:08AM on Aug 9th 2006 by Wanda

20. BTW, Halle Berry is only half black and half white. Her mother, as seen at the Oscars, is white as the driven snow. So I'm not sure where all the "African-American" labels are coming from.

Posted at 10:31AM on Aug 9th 2006 by The Tingler

21. It's sad that many beautiful actresses besides Halle; Black, White or Hispanic, don't get recognized for their acting talent until they appear in a film where their looks are altered to appear ugly - Selema H., Charlize T., Nicole K, Sally F. So Halle and Cuba made a few flops, name me one actor who hasn't in their careers? Denzil won kudos for portraying a corrupt, foul mouthed black cop when worthier roles such as Malcolm X or John Q didn't. As far as Oscar goes - many have won it or been nominated for the performance that didn't deserve it. I think Hollywood knows it & then gives the statue on lesser deserved roles to make up for it. Perfect example is Paul Newman, ignored for performances in Hud, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke - all better performances then the Color of Money for which he won. For any director to criticize anyone in his employ publicly is unprofessional - is this to prepare the audience that if the movie flops it's because of the actors, not himself?

Posted at 10:51AM on Aug 9th 2006 by sv

22. Are you all crazy?!

This director doesn't say anything negative about the actors. He only speaks truthfully about the PERCEPTION OF THEM IN HOLLYWOOD! No more, no less.

Maybe you hadn't noticed but Halle Berrys career wasn't really going anywhere before Monsters Ball established her as an accomplished actress.

And Cuba Gooding JR, really, what has he been doing lately? Snow Dogs and Boat Trip are both as far away from the more oscar type of material he did in Jerry Maguire and Boyz n The Hood as you can get.

Look at the quotes central to whats he's trying to say.
About Halle: "at her worst publicity-wise". About Cuba Gooding JR: "With Cuba, something wasn't sitting right with me but I remembered him in 'Boyz N the Hood." The latter comment is right on the money, this is very much the perception of Cuba as of now. Something isn't "sitting right", even though the guy has done great performances before.

"[With this film], I think he's gangsta. I think he's thug. I think he's honest and good. And I think he's back."

This quote is about Cubas role in the movie! It's NOT ABOUT the director wishing and expecting Cuba to be more of a gangsta. If you have seen Cubas performance in Boyz N The Hood, you know his character there is a smart articulate man trying to escape all that macho gangsta bullshit!

Posted at 11:36AM on Aug 9th 2006 by U.L.E.

23. I agree with #9 above, both Halle and Cuba are okay but not the best that the African American community has to offer. Halle is very adorable and cute, but as an actress, to me she is bland and uninteresting. Cuba is not adorable and cute and as an actor is bland and uninteresting. As far as Lee Daniels' remarks, he's the director and should have artistic control over the picture. To suggest that he's uneasy with light skinned blacks is absurd and an insult to him as a professional and a human being. Can't someone just be a not so hot actor without blaming their pigmentation?

Posted at 11:46AM on Aug 9th 2006 by Records1944@ameritech.net

24. The comments are HIS personal perceptions of Halle and Cuba. If you don't
respect people why in the hell would you work with them. Black folks need to stop making Halle the scapegoat for institutionalized racism in Hollywood. She worked hard for her accomplishments and for the record it was her determination and acting that got her an Oscar NOT Lee Daniels. White actors don't have to deal with such degrees of animosity among themselves or others because they are used to having choices and opportunities that they take for granted.

Posted at 12:36PM on Aug 9th 2006 by RCG

25. Well...I wanna add another comment........

It is a FACT that Hollywood prefers their "light-skinned" black actors/actresses over darker-skinned. Look at Cecily Tyson, Angela Bassett, Alfred Woodard, Esther Role(Good Times),etc. These are great black actors u never got Oscars.
Never! Halle & Cuba are loved by white Hollywood for some reason and they will always get work.

Denzel Washington is very blessed to have his career especially because many black actors are ignored time and time again. Yes, Mr Lee Daniels has a habit of bad-mouthing black actors. When promoting Monsters' Ball few years ago, he named several black actresses who were being considered for the film and he was very insulting while explaining why they didnt get the role. (Queen latifah, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Williams,etc)

One more thought......I heard that Queen latifah was hired as Lead in Monster's Ball because he wanted an over weight, unattractive woman for role. (Sorry Queen, no offense) Apperently Queen dropped out of film and he Daniels cast Halle. Halle has an unfair advantage over all other black actresses cause even when character should be UGLY or OVERWEIGHT , they still cast HER!!!!

Posted at 3:52PM on Aug 9th 2006 by nikki

26. Let me make it clear for you. would you give Whitney Houston the way she now an acting roll? Or what about Robert Downey Jr, the way he was 4 1/2 years ago?
Hell No! I know you maybe offended by this but Halle Berry just
RAN SOMEONE OVER AND LEFT THE SCENE!
Cuba Gooding Jr from boys in the hood fame
started taking these really sh@#$% roles. I guess somethings happend to him
or he did something made the director think twice about who he was hiring.
WHO YOU HIRE AS A DIRECTOR CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOU FINANCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY AND CAN CHANGE THE WHOLE OUT COME OF YOUR MOVIE.
If you really love what you do you would not Intrust just anyone with that!
I think he spoke his mind and people did not like that. People hate honesty when it makes them look bad. He said he is for the underdog, and I guess he made the right decision because both movies were a successful.

On the other hand:
NEVER MAKE YOUR PERSONAL DISTAIN FOR A FELLOW ACTOR BE KNOWN TO THE PUBLIC!
It just makes you look stupid and nosey.

Posted at 10:39PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Sarina Sweezer

27. I just wanted to say something else:
I am so sick of this light skined dark skinned sympaty written bullshit untill it's not funny! These were two people trying to salvage their careers.To which they did. They came to him for three reasons:Money ,Good script, and giving the media something else to talk about.
BEING BLACK HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!
so ......because their black we can't say anything negative about them because now it looks like we don't stick together. NEWSFLASH! WE NEVER DID!
so stop the poor black person syndrome BULLSHIT.! It seriously offends me.

Posted at 11:07PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Sarina Sweezer

28. Well....I wanna add a third comment...........

There has always been a preference for "light-skinned" black actors esspecially the attractive vs non attractive. I will admit that roles in 1900's-1960 did show darker-skinned blacks who were of course moslty playing maids, slaves, criminals, and strange people.

When Halle won her Oscar, people asked if that would help "black actresses" get more repsect in Hollywood. Well.....I think Halle gets more respect in Hollywood. However, when u see Queen Latifah in Hair care, Beauty commercials, I guess we are progressing ALITTLE!

Bottom Line: Its not good business to bad-mouth actors black or white when u employ them. This producer needs to watch his words cause he will only hurt HIS chances of advancement in Hollywood. We all know that Halle and Cuba are NOT our greatest black actors, but Daniels still needs to show respect.

Posted at 2:56PM on Aug 10th 2006 by nikki

29. I'm a white female who thinks Denzil is handsome, talented and a nice family man. I'm a huge Sydney Poitier fan. Both men are dark skinned but I never gave it a thought. I also admire all the other fine actors listed in these comments as well as countless others. Didn't Whoopi get an Oscar? I never think of any as light or dark - just talented (or not). Unless an actor is playing a true life character or the theme of a movie's story is race related, I've never understood why a person's color should be considered when casting a role. It's a shame & I hope I live to see changes. Anyway I think a producer should always say why he hired an actor for their positive attributes to a film and not discuss negative reasons why he almost didn't.

Posted at 5:28PM on Aug 10th 2006 by Married White Female

30. When Halle Berry won her Oscar, I was in tears. Living in New York during the Guliani admistration, where the oppression of blacks was almost palpable that moment made my heart light. I smiled for days when Cuba Gooding won his. These moments will always be in my heart as Iam a huge movie buff.
Whoever this director is, he is a wannbe as far as I'm concerned. He needs to take a page from John Singleton's book or Spike Lee's who directed Halle in "Jungle Fever". This director is obviously not too bright since these actors will make HIS career. It seems to me that he is trying to make them suffer because neither of them has had a hit lately and he must think that his film will make them "big" again. And the fact that Halle is biracial has always been a bone of contention with some black folks saying that' s why she won her Oscar.
This guy sounds like an arrogant ***hole to me and instead of welcoming these two talented people of color, knowing the usual roles that Hollywood offers them, he chooses to rake them over the coals for past mistakes. As a dark skinned, dredlocked wearing, African American woman, I will NEVER understand why my fellow African Americans choose to tear each other apart! I remember the back lash of crititism Halle recieved for "Monsters Ball"! MY GOD! Did everyone forget she is the FIRST black female to win for best actress! Angela Basset made a comment that the role was demeaning to black women and that Merrill Streep didn't have to take off her clothes to win an Oscar. That to me sounded like sour grapes because the role was offered to her first but she turned it down. What has she done lately?
Iam also reminded of Hattie McDaniel and how the NAACP crucified her and held up Lena Horne as the epitome of black womanhood. I want to start a crusade to find out what happened to her Oscar which she donated to Howard University. I understand it was stolen because it just dissapeared. Hattie too made history, along with Whoopi Goldberg who won fifty years after Hattie. FIFTY YEARS! Does anyone feel me?
The self hatred needs to stop. Those of you who are in a position to hire black actors and actresses for good roles in your films need to embrace them instead to tearing them apart. We don't need you, we need more Spike Lees!

Posted at 5:50AM on Aug 11th 2006 by Leslie Coleman