Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian in the original Star Wars trilogy, has never shied away from expressing his often blunt opinions, and has now shared some comments during a recent podcast appearance that have raised more than a few eyebrows online.
The veteran actor was a guest on this week's Club Random With Bill Maher, and while discussing Sir Lawrence Olivier's now controversial performance in 1965's adaptation of Othello, Williams suggested that actors should be allowed to don blackface without fear of repercussions.
“When he did Othello, I fell out laughing,” Williams said. “He stuck his ass out and walked around because Black people are supposed to have big asses.”
Maher replied, “Today, they would never let you do that.” When Williams wondered why, Maher rather incredulously pointed out that Olivier was in blackface.
“Why not? You should do it,” Williams responded. “If you’re an actor, you should do anything you want to do. The point is, you don’t go through life feeling like, ‘I’m a victim.’ I refuse to go through life saying to the world, ‘I’m pissed off.’ I’m not gonna be pissed off 24 hours a day.”
It's probably fair to say that most would reject this view of blackface, but, as he points out here, Williams came up in a very different era, and his "actors should be able to do anything they want" mindset is probably shared by plenty of Hollywood stars who simply wouldn't ever admit as much publicly.
Williams returned as Lando for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but is unlikely to reprise the role again. Donald Glover played a younger take on the fan-favourite space scoundrel in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and is expected to take the lead in the Lando-centric Disney+ series down the line.
“I had a nice little lunch with him. He’s a delightful young man. Extremely talented,” Williams recently said of meeting with Glover to discuss him stepping into the role. “But I don’t see him… I mean, when it comes to Lando Calrissian there’s only one Lando Calrissian. I created that character.”
“He’s part of a whole new generation. He’ll create whatever he needs to create, to bring appeal to the character,” he went on. “He’s a very talented young lad and very imaginative. I mean, it’s not for me to say what he should do with the character at this stage.”
What do you make of Williams' blackface comments? Be sure to share your thoughts down below.