Danish Actor Mads Mikkelsen and filmmaker Nikolaj Arcel didn’t have time for a reporter’s stupid questions about diversity.
(BTW, Mads is one of the most underrated actors. Adore him!!)
The Promised Land takes place in Denmark in the 1750s, so yeah…it has an all-Danish white cast.
I absolutely love how Mads doesn’t hold back his annoyance:
An unnamed reporter from Denmark asked, “This is a cast and Danish production that is entirely Nordic, therefore has some lack of diversity, you would say, there’s also new rules implied in Hollywood.”Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who stars in the film made by his fellow countryman Nikolaj Arcel, cut off the question while shaking his head in disbelief.”What? From the get-go,” Mikkelsen said while laughing.
The reporter continues to dig his hole, which leads to more laughter and hysterics from Mads and Arcel, but again, especially from Mads:
The reporter then said there are “rules of diversity across the Atlantic,” noting that the Academy Awards have representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility in the Best Picture category.”Are you worried about that?” the reporter asked.Mikkelsen, who recently starred in the latest “Indiana Jones” film, appeared agitated. He shot back, “Are you?”The reporter then evoked “Parasite” — which won Best Picture for the 2019 movie year — a South Korean film with a prominently South Korean cast and crew. It would be eligible for the top prize under the new rules, while he said an “all-Nordic cast” is not.
Arcel reminded the reporter the movie takes place in 1750s Denmark, which basically had no people of color:
“First of all, the film takes place in Denmark in the 1750s,” he said.”We do have a big plot line about a girl of color who is being subjected to racism, which was very rare, any people of color in Denmark… almost, nobody. She was probably at the time the only one in the entire country of Denmark,” Arcel continued. “It wasn’t a thought in our mind. I think it would be a little weird, it’s just historical, it’s just how it was in the 1750s.”
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