There’s a misconception about Black actors that when you get to a certain level of success, the disrespectful microaggressions become more rare or even stop happening altogether. Unfortunately, that’s just not true, as acclaimed actor Jeffrey Wright recently revealed in a discussion with his “American Fiction” costars Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown, and Erika Alexander. On Entertainment Weekly’s “Around the Table,” he explained how he was asked to censor a powerful moment in the 1999 Civil War-era film “Ride With the Devil.”
In the movie, Wright plays Daniel Holt, a former slave who is fighting for his freedom by joining the Confederate side. In a crucial moment for the character, he mourns the death of his friend, but also notes how he finally feels free from the burden of their arrangement.
“In this scene in which he has this, kind of the apex of his awakening and his need to emancipate himself, he says, ‘Being that man’s friend was no more than being his nigger. And I will never again be anyone’s nigger,’” Wright said. “And it’s such a self-empowering statement and understanding of the word.”
As he went in to dub the “airplane version” of the film, where profanity and other harsh language is changed, he was asked to switch out the N-word for something more palatable. The “Westworld” star did not want to change the dialogue, as this moment was so important to his character’s story. He left the recording session, and the studio brought in another actor to dub that single word.
“I said, ‘Nah. Nah, it’s not happening,’” he said. “And I headed out the door and to my car, and they found some other actor to come in and do that one word, apparently, so that the airplane folk would be comfy in the darkness of their own ignorance around the language of race.”
There’s so much to unpack about this, as it signals several problems with Hollywood’s treatment and portrayal of Black stories. They went out of their way to show the character’s fight for his agency in the film, but you didn’t want to use language that would make viewers uncomfortable? It would be one thing if another character was using that word in an offensive, derogatory way, but this was a major moment in Holt’s character evolution, so taking that away from him, diminishes the importance of his awakening.
Obviously, I can’t say for certain, but this conversation also tells me that there weren’t enough Black producers and executives in the room to explain why this was such a real moment. And let’s be real, the studio wanted to remove the N-word to make white viewers more comfortable, not Black viewers. We understand and know what that scene is about, so they weren’t trying to change it for us.
Thankfully, since then Wright has gone on to win an Emmy and show out in high-profiles franchises like “The Hunger Games,” James Bond and “The Batman.” He’s kicking off the 2024 awards season with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for “American Fiction,” which is now playing in theaters.
You can see if he gets recognized for his unforgettable performance when the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards air live Sunday, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and Paramount+.