Just over a week after actress Thandie Newton spoke out about her bad experience auditioning for the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels, Nia Long is speaking out as well.
Newton, 47, said last week she turned down the Alex Munday role that was ultimately given to Lucy Liu, after a meeting with then-Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal, who wanted to use black stereotypes to make her character more ‘believable.’
Long, 49, revealed in a Wednesday interview with Insider that she didn’t get the Alex Munday role because she ‘looked too old’ opposite Barrymore, even though Long is just four years older.
Speaking out: Just over a week after actress Thandie Newton spoke out about her bad experience auditioning for the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels, Nia Long is speaking out as well
Too old: Long, 49, revealed in a Wednesday interview with Insider that she didn’t get the Alex Munday role because she ‘looked too old’ opposite Barrymore, even though Long is just four years older
‘I was like, “What?” I love Drew Barrymore, I think she’s amazing, but I think that was just a nice way to say you’re a little too Black,’ Long said.
‘Personally, that’s what I think. Because if you notice there were no brown skin [actors]. I mean, honestly, I would have been the blackest thing in the film.”
Ironically, the role went to Lucy Liu, who is two years older than Long, who revealed what her agent told her.
Too Black: ‘I was like, “What?” I love Drew Barrymore, I think she’s amazing, but I think that was just a nice way to say you’re a little too Black,’ Long said.
‘The feedback that I received from my agent was, “She just looked too old and sophisticated to be next to Drew Barrymore,”‘ Long said.
‘And I’m thinking to myself, it’s an actor’s choice to walk in the room how they want to look, but it’s a director’s vision to help create and curate a character,’ she added.
‘So if you couldn’t see beyond the fact that I had on a blazer and a pair of jeans then that was clearly not the job and opportunity for me. So, no problem, I’ll keep it moving,’ Long said.
Feedback: ‘The feedback that I received from my agent was, “She just looked too old and sophisticated to be next to Drew Barrymore,”‘ Long said
Newton opened up last week that the movie’s director, McG, told her he wanted to open the movie in an inappropriate way.
”The director said to me, “I can’t wait for this. The first shot is going to be… You’re going to think it’s like yellow lines down a road, and you pull back and you realize it’s the stitching, because the denim is so tight on your ass it’s going to look like tarmac.'”‘
She added, ‘I was like, “Oh, I don’t think we’re going to go down this road together.”‘
Inappropriate: Newton opened up last week that the movie’s director, McG, told her he wanted to open the movie in an inappropriate way
Charlie’s Angels would go on to make $125.3 million domestic and $264.1 million worldwide from a $90 million budget.
Long would go on to star in the indie hit Boiler Room and Big Momma’s House in 2000, the latter of which earned $117.5 million domestic and $173.9 million worldwide, from just a $30 million budget.
Long most recently starred in The Banker, which debuted on Apple TV Plus in March, and she also has Life In a Year and Fatal Affair coming this year.
Banker: Long most recently starred in The Banker, which debuted on Apple TV Plus in March, and she also has Life In a Year and Fatal Affair coming this year