Netflix released the trailer for its upcoming docudrama Queen Cleopatra earlier this month. A new season for Jada Pinkett Smith’s four-part docudrama anthology, African Queens, explores the history of African women rulers. As suggested by its name, the latest season will explore the story of the Egyptian queen. Since its release, the trailer has garnered a major backlash, specifically for its casting choice, as it features a black actress Adele James in the lead role.
Director of the series, Tina Gharavi, responded to the backlash over the altercation of the queen’s ethnicity, as she criticized casting Elizabeth Taylor in the role of the Egyptian queen in the 1963 film Cleopatra in her editorial on Variety.
Queen Cleopatra Director Speaks Out on Controversy
The director of Queen Cleopatra, Tina Gharavi, talked about how one day, she got the call to work on Jada Pinkett Smith’s African Queens. As she shared that she got the call to direct the docudrama after a fortune-teller told her that she would share the Egyptian leader’s story one day, Gharavi recalled seeing the 1963 film, Cleopatra.
She shared that she remembers seeing the late actress Elizabeth Taylor portraying the character. Although she was captivated by her performance, the director claims that Cleopatra’s image presented by the makers did not feel right to her.
“Was her skin really that white?” she questioned. Tina Gharavi shared that she wanted to explore the queen’s heritage, and her research led to the conclusion that there are fewer chances that the controversial ruler would have been white. So, she “had to get it even more right.”
The Sundance-nominated filmmaker shared that she was looking for the right performer to bring Cleopatra into the 21st century. So despite knowing that casting a black actress could lead to controversies, Gharavi brought in Adele James to portray Cleopatra.
Tina Gharavi is Okay With the Backlash
Director of Queen Cleopatra, Tina Gharavi, claimed that it was her job to get things right when telling a story and maintain “humanism and nuance.” Addressing the backlash, she mentioned Cleopatra’s character description in the HBO drama series Rome. She claimed that people were not offended when the series portrayed the Egyptian queen as “a sleazy, dissipated drug addict.”
“Where was the outrage then?” she asked. Gharavi further mentions how she feels that she has not directed a series that portrays Cleopatra as Black but has “asked Egyptians to see themselves as Africans,” leading to massive outrage. However, she said that she is okay with whatever people are saying about her and the show. Gharavi said, “I am okay with this.”
Queen Cleopatra is set to premiere on Netflix on May 10, 2023.
Source: Variety
