David Harewood says Black British actors move to America for jobs because of ‘racism’ in U.K. film industry
The “Homeland” star cited David Oyelowo, Idris Elba, and Daniel Kaluuya as examples
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Homeland” star David Harewood said he struggled to get acting jobs in the United Kingdom as a Black man because of racism in the country's film industry.
Harewood, 54, gave a candid interview on BBC’s “Joe Wicks” podcast on Monday where he declared many other Black British actors chose to move to Hollywood for more opportunities.
The British actor explained that he was once out of work for nine months before his agent advised him to go to the United States.
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David Harewood as David Estes in 'Homeland.' (Kent Smith/SHOWTIME)
“I always knew I had talent,” the “Supergirl” alum said. “I was always convinced that it wasn’t necessarily me, it was the industry.”
Harewood cited David Oyelowo, Idris Elba, and Daniel Kaluuya as examples of Black British actors who have had commercial success in Hollywood.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I turn my TV on in America and there’s a range of shows with black leading actors and actresses, Netflix has got lots of shows with leading black casts,” Harewood said. “That’s why the major black actors in the U.K. leave, there just isn’t the industry to support us.”
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David Harewood as David Estes.
Harewood also said racism in Britain is a “particularly different struggle” compared to the United States.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It very difficult to get people to acknowledge that there is a specificity to racism and how it affects people of color in this country," he said.
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The “Homeland” actor added: “Racism and its effects still isn’t really understood here, and because our system is essentially a class-based system it gets swallowed up in that paradigm, as the working class will say, ‘Well, join the queue.’”