London: Indian actor Freida Pinto was reduced to tears by Black Lives Matter activists who attacked her role in a new civil rights television drama.
Activists of Black Lives Matter UK slammed the 32-year-old actor’s inclusion in Guerrilla during a panel session with the cast, The Sun reported. They accused the show of “black erasure” for casting of an Asian lady as its lead.
In the show set in the 1970s London, Pinto plays an Asian nurse who is married to a Black civil rights leader. According to the Independent, Pinto was visibly too upset to answer questions posed to her.
An audience member told the newspaper: “Frieda was left stunned and didn’t know what to do when a barrage of questions came in about why they had cast an Asian lady as a lead character.
The writer of the show, John Ridley, attempted to appease the activists, but to no avail. “She sat at the front of the stage and tears rolled down her cheeks as John tried to get them to understand that being called Black in the Seventies referred to all people of colour from former British colonies.
“John then spent around 40 minutes trying to speak to them after the event, but they were really rude in rolling their eyes and answering back saying he didn’t understand. It was ridiculous following his background.”
An Oscar-winning director Ridley, 51, wrote the script for 12 Years a Slave.
Neil Kenlock, the former official photographer for the British Black Panthers, rushed to Pinto’s aid and pointed out that Asian author Mala Sen was very prominent in the movement and the drama was historically accurate. at the end of the discussion. Babou Ceesay, who also stars in the show, tried to speak to the activists, but was left frustrated, The Sun reported.
