Thirty year old black Parisian actor Tony Mpoudja says that France should be more like the US in finding better roles for black actors.
Mpoujda, who is also a musician and writer, is in Cannes helping to promote films he featured in this year – La mer à boire, by Jacques Maillot starring Daniel Auteil and a made-for-TV movie called Pierre Goldman by Christophe Blanc, starring Samuel Benchetrit.
In an interview with France 24, Mpoudja says that despite improvements in recent years, roles for minority actors are still very limited but the US has demonstrated that black actors are just as bankable and it is about “good scripts and good roles.”
Mpoudja, who has also starred in the 2001 crime drama La Squale, Opailleur in 2009 and 35 Shots of rum in 2008, says that he often pursues roles that are not intended for a black actor but says that the producers are often where barriers exist as they are afraid to “take risks.”
He cites Robert De Niro, Leonardo de Caprio, Will Smith, Wesley Snipes and Brad Pitt among his favourite actors.
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