Though public opinion has very much turned against the use of blackface by actors who aren’t Black, “Star Wars” actor Billy Dee Williams said he doesn’t have a problem with it.
On Sunday’s Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast, Laurence Olivier came up in conversation and Williams mentioned that the British acting legend did eventually play the Shakespearean role of “Othello” in blackface in a 1965 film.
“Here’s the thing today. I mean, they would never let you do that,” observed Maher.
“Why?” asked Williams. “You should do anything you want to do,” adding that a mentor of his told him, ” As an actor, you should be able to do whatever you think you can do.”