Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has criticized the Oscars’ new diversity and inclusion requirements, saying “they make me throw up.”
Under new rules, films will have to meet minimum requirements regarding representation and inclusion from next year in order to be eligible for the prize for best film.
But Jaws star Dreyfuss, 75, lashed out at the vigil rules on an episode of PBS’ Firing Line, which aired Friday, claiming that the Academy was treating people like children by implementing those criteria.
And he defended the role of Laurence Olivier in the 1965 film Othello, in which he played the main role in blackface.
Beginning in 2024, the Academy of Motion Picture will disqualify films from the Best Picture contest that do not have enough black, gay, and disabled actors in the cast and crew.
Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has flouted the Oscars’ new diversity and inclusion requirements, saying, ‘They’re making me throw up’
Dreyfuss, pictured with his Best Actor Oscar in 1978 for his starring role in The Goodbye Girl, lashed out at the Academy’s new rules
Host Margaret Hoover asked Dreyfuss what he thought of the incoming inclusivity rules and he replied, “They’re making me throw up.”
“No one should tell me as an artist that I have to give in to the newest, most current idea of what morality is. What are we risking? Are we really at risk of hurting people’s feelings?
“You can’t legislate that. You have to let life be life and I’m sorry, I don’t think there is a minority or majority in the country that should be served like this.
Dreyfuss, who won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Actor for his lead role in The Goodbye Girl, added, “This is an art form. It’s also a form of commerce, and it makes money, but it’s an art.
“And nobody should tell me as an artist that I have to give in to the newest, most current idea of what morality is.”
He then defended English actor Olivier who wore a black face to play Othello in the 1965 Shakespeare adaptation.
“Laurence Olivier was the last white actor to play Othello, and he did it in 1965,” Dreyfuss said.
And he did it in blackface. And he brilliantly played a black man.
“Am I being told I’ll never get a chance to play a black man? Is anyone else being told that if they’re not Jewish they can’t play The Merchant of Venice?
‘Are we crazy? Don’t we know that art is art? This is so patronizing. It’s like that, it’s so thoughtless, and treating people like children.’
Hoover asked him if “there is a difference between the issue of representation and who may represent other groups?”
She highlighted the case of blackface, saying “explicitly in this country, given the history of slavery and the sensibilities around black racism.”
But Dreyfuss replied, “It shouldn’t be. … Because it’s patronizing. Because it says that we are so fragile that our feelings cannot be hurt.
“We have to anticipate our feelings getting hurt, hurting our children’s feelings. We don’t know how to get up and slap the bully in the face.”
He championed Laurence Olivier’s performance in the 1965 film Othello, in which he played the lead role in blackface
Laurence Olivier pictured with his Variety Club Of Great Britain award for his performance in Othello
Dreyfuss in his role as Elliot Garfield in The Goodbye Girl
The Academy Awards shake-up means that films seeking to win Best Picture in 2024 will need to hire more black, female, LGBT or disabled cast and crew or address themes that impact those communities.
Those seeking Best Picture nominations must meet two of the four requirements.
They include at least one main character in the film being from an “under-represented racial or ethnic group,” with at least 30 percent of the cast coming from at least two under-represented groups: ethnic minorities, female LGBTQ+ people, or People with Disabilities. – or have the subject of the movie focus on one of them.
The organization approved its Aperture 2025 initiative in 2020, five years after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy to promote more diversity in the industry, but the move has come under fire ever since.
It was led by black filmmaker Ava DuVernay and developed by the academy to set criteria — including diversifying nearly every aspect of a film, from cast and crew to production, marketing, financing, distribution, and even internships by 30 percent.
But critics say awakened Hollywood bosses are turning the awards show into a political weapon.
Dreyfuss’ actor son Ben, 36, sparked outrage on Twitter earlier this year when he stated that he would never date a “fat person” or go to bed and encourage a partner to lose weight.
Ben, a writer and self-proclaimed comedian, made the comments in a thread Jan. 18.
Jumping on an unrelated article titled “You Need Help: You’ve Shamed Your Beautiful Girlfriend,” he began his “schtick.”
‘That’s outrageous! I’ve never dated a fat person!’ he stated, before launching a multi-tweet thread on the subject.