Adam Jacobs was in the Lion King?

He played a freakin' lion!

I don't understand why all the lions have to be black anyway. I get that the story takes place in Africa, but they're playing animals. Why are the only white people the pig, the bird, the meerkat and the bad guy? What is Julie trying to say?

Updated On: 2/4/13 at 08:29 PM

Pumbaa is a racist.

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I say this as someone who very much enjoys Adam Jacobs as a performer and who is sad to have missed him in the show.

I was VERY taken aback at Adam Jacobs being cast as Simba, not sue to his talent, but yes, due his race. Julie Taymor was always very, very vocal and very, very specific in the racial breakdown for the principals in Lion King. When asked about that interviews, Julie responded as such and she made note that Scar was conceived as a white character role vs black Mufasa and Simba. She then followed that up by saying that she was "open" to a non-white Scar but was INCREDIBLY specific in stating that she was uncomfortable with casting Simba as anything other than black . In her words, Simba would ALWAYS be portrayed by a black actor... so for Jacobs to be cast, well... I was taken.

Black people come in all different shades. I have no clue what Adam Jacobs' ethnicity is, but there are many African-Americans who have complexions very similar to his. My father, for example, is much lighter than I am, but he's still black. Just sayin'. :)

Complexion.. race.. ethnicity.. all very different things. With casting, it's not about what you ARE, but what you read as. Ms. Taymor though expressed very specifically that Simba is a role for a black man... Much as the show has negotiated a situation to always maintain a minimum number of actual South African performers in the company... didn't matter to Ms. Taymor what they could portray so much as the reality of who they are and where from and she expressed similar sentiment about Simba. Jacobs defies the rule she verbalized often in press. It's not "right" or "wrong", just observation and makes his casting unusual and fodder for discussion.

(To be fair, the Asian companies have almost always had an all Asian cast and an Asian Simba, BUT...)

I've got no qualms about him playing Simba at all. I don't want it come off that way. I just find it interesting is all. That like suddenly the 'race barrier' was broken through the other way around, ya know?

And that's interesting about the Asian companies. I would think they'd always keep a consistent look, but I guess not. I mean, race isn't really part of the story, so it honestly shouldn't matter, but I guess it does.

I mean, was his Mufasa a black man? Did people have a problem with it? I remember on this board people being so confused/angry when Phylicia Rashad was playing the grandmother in August: Osage County.

Not all the lions around the world are black. For example, in Tokyo all the characters are portrayed by Japanese people and in Madrid, Simba is played by Mexican actor Carlos Rivera, who is obviously not black (while Mufasa, Sarabi and Nala are portrayed by black people). I don't have any problem with this.



Carlos Rivera and Daniela Pobega (Original Madrid Cast)

Updated On: 2/5/13 at 02:58 AM

It probably won't. Mixed folks like Adam Jacobs are as close as they'll come.

(For those who missed it: Adam is Russian/Dutch/Polish/Filipino. http://entertainment.inquirer.net/11749/%E2%80%98lion-king%E2%80%99-welcomes-adam-jacobs-as-simba )

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Jason Raize, the original Simba was of "indeterminate ethnicity."

Hakuna matata.

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