Sara Ramirez WILL play a black woman!(because she can)

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 7:02pm

She will star alongside the incomparable Keith David in a non-traditional version of O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms"
Read on!

[kim1061]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 7:03pm

oh interesting..i would see it

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 7:35pm

huh. how very odd.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:01pm

Is she wearing Ava Gardner's "Light Egyptian"?

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:11pm

hilarious^^^^^^^^!!!!!!!!!! but as black people, due to our long and thriving history in this country, we are of many shades, from the lightest light to the darkest dark.

[Drew7810]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:17pm

Well, after reading the article, it looks as though she will be playing a role...not necessarily as black. In fact, the article states "featuring a mostly African-American cast" neither suggesting how should would be READING the role nor how she was cast. The article states that this reading is a highly conceived version of O'Neill's work. Let's not read into things, TonyaFanatic.

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:30pm

Let's not start being a smart ass Drew. Im not reading into anything, this is information I already know from a particular person involved with the reading's director that the part of Abbie Putnam(Sara's part) will be a black character. She will be portrayed as a light-skinned black, which will add a colorstruck dimension to the play.

Thank You
TonyaFanatic

[nmartin]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:38pm

Let's get back to this Light Egyptian thing. I thought Max Factor made that for Lena Horne and Ava used it for Show Boat.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:41pm

Egg Zactly, nmartin!

[Soheir]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 9:13pm

I don't understand this reference to wearing "Light Egyptian." Most Egyptians are Caucasian and those who are not usually have Sudanese or some other parentage. I personally am originally from Egypt and these type of references are offensive to us.
Updated On: 7/5/05 at 09:13 PM

[Aigoo]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 9:24pm

To me, skin isn't really the issue, but Sara's face looks very Latino...

[kangaroo]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 9:27pm

this is a one-day reading right... interesting

[Thenardier]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 9:28pm

I hate hate hate LOATHE this show!

[TennesseeTwang]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 9:39pm

"I don't understand this reference to wearing "Light Egyptian." Most Egyptians are Caucasian and those who are not usually have Sudanese or some other parentage. I personally am originally from Egypt and these type of references are offensive to us."

Please don't take offense. It's not meant as a racial slur. Most people are aware that most Egyptians are Caucasians. The remarks were meant more as bitter and flippant jokes about the racial hysteria of the U.S. in the 1950's than a reflection on Egyptian racial categories.

Lena Horn was a very light-skinned African American actress with what many considered to be Caucasoid features. She was being considered for the role of Julie, the mixed-race woman who could pass for white, in the 1950's remake of Showboat. But there was no makeup at the studios that matched her skin tone. So Max Factor was brought in to develop makeup just for her. And he named it "light Eqyptian."

He wasn't implying that Egyptains weren't Caucasian. He was implying that Lena looked white, but somehow, not European white.

But she never got to use it because the studio was terrified of a known to be black actress playing scenes as the love interest of a white actor. So Lena lost the role. And as she joked in her one woman show, they spread her makeup all over Ava Gardner.

Updated On: 7/5/05 at 09:39 PM

[ckeaton]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 10:21pm

Hell, you even come close to it, and someone registers to register their offense. Crap people, don't be so sensitive.

[kombatkoala]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 10:59pm

Interesting. I'd see it though. But I'm also a fan.

[Aigoo]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 11:31pm

There's a difference between being the race of the part and looking the race of the part. I know it's harsh, but it's true. In reality, even though I'm Asian, if I look more...ugh, I don't know, Latino, than Asian, obviously, I'll be cast in more Latino roles than Asian roles.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/5/05 at 11:39pm

I'm still a little weirded out by the idea, but congrats to her for the job.

[Tap16]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 12:32am

But ethnicity is she anyways?

[Jon]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 12:43am

She is Mexican. Of course, some Mexicans have more European (Spanish conqueror) blood in their ancestry, and some have more indigenous (native "Indian") blood. The result is a wide range of skin tones - just as most African-Americans have some caucasian ancestry mixed in over the centuries.

[Forester]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 4:52am

If Jonathan Pryce can be a Vietnamese . . .

[wonderland]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 4:55am

Or God, Mickey Rooney a Chinese man. Or Alfred Molina a Russian Jew.

[TennesseeTwang]

Posted: 7/7/05 at 7:42am

Actually, it's very common for black Latinas like Zoe Saldana to play African American women and for African American women like Kerry Washington to play black Latinas. Sara may be neither, but as someone said up thread, there are many African American women who look like her.

It's very true that people don't always fit the stereotype of how their particular raiail group is "supposed" to look.