Jaws actor Richard Dreyfuss is not happy with the Academy’s new diversity rules, the Oscar winner revealed in a new interview on PBS.
The veteran Hollywood star went as far as to say the new rules ‘make him vomit’.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ new diversity and inclusion standards were first announced in 2020. They will be implemented in the 2024 Academy Awards, with two of the four conditions set necessary for features to be considered for best picture.
“It’s an art. No one should be telling me as an artist that I
have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is. What
are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t
legislate that,” Dreyfuss said during the interview.
“You have to
let life be life. I’m sorry, I don’t think there is a minority or majority
in the country that has to be catered to like that.”
The new
rules set hope to achieve greater on-screen representation in themes as well
as narratives. The initiative hopes to open doors for underrepresented
demographics.
Dreyfuss’ proceeded to defend Laurence Olivier’s role in the
1965 feature “Othello,” in which the English actor played the Shakespeare
protagonist in blackface.
“He played a Black man brilliantly. Am
I being told that I will never have a chance to play a Black man? Is someone
else being told that if they’re not Jewish, they shouldn’t play [in] ‘The
Merchant of Venice’? Are we crazy?” Dreyfuss said. “This is so patronizing.
It’s so thoughtless and treating people like children.”
The actor
also touched upon the subject of Republicans regulating school curriculums,
criticizing the move.
