James Gray defends his decision of casting non-Jewish actors as Jewish characters in 'Armageddon Time'

Director and writer James Gray recently gave an interview to talk about his new film 'Armageddon Time', which released in theatres on October 28. Speaking about the film which he claims is inspired by his childhood in 1980 Queens, he defended his decision of casting actors who aren’t Jewish as Jewish characters in the semi-biographical film.

Speaking to The New York Times, Gray said that he takes huge offence to critics' idea that Hopkins shouldn’t be playing a Jewish character. He shared that he makes a casting decision based on people's craft and not their religious or cultural identities. In the film, Hopkins plays a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine who escaped the Holocaust.

"I reserve the right," he said while talking to the publication about his casting decision. "It’s my story,"he said. "And you don’t have to say that my story is of value, but that’s a different criticism."

He argued that casting Jewish actors for Jewish roles can lead to stereotyping. "I take huge offence to that as well. Because that means what people want is [puts on a Yiddish accent] ‘Hello, I am the Jewish grandfather!'" Gray said. "But that’s not what my grandfather was like."

"Does that person watch The Godfather and complain that Marlon Brando is from Omaha, Nebraska, and not an Italian New York guy?" he added. "At some point, we have to acknowledge that our whole function as artists is to try and step into the consciousness of someone else and find compassion and find something of emotional power in doing that."

The debate around Gray's casting decisiongarnered more attention when conversations around authentic casting in Hollywood increased. Other projects that have faced similar scrutiny are 'The Shrink Next Door', 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel' and 'Moon Knight'.

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