Mads Mikkelsen Dismisses Questions About Lack of Diversity in ‘The Promised Land’ (Video)

The film’s director, Nikolaj Arcel, said diversity “wasn’t a thought in our mind”

Mads Mikkelsen, a light-skinned man with silver hair and a scruffy beard, looks at the camera as he signs autographed posters for a group of nearby fans
Mads Mikkelsen (Photo by Nicky J Sims/Getty Images for Warner Bros.)

Mads Mikkelsen isn’t interested in criticism of the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in his new movie “The Promised Land.” When a reporter pointed out that the movie is “a Danish production that’s entirely Nordic” and asked if the actor is “worried” about the movie being ineligible to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar once new rules go into effect next year, Mikkelsen shot back, “Are you?”

He continued, “I’m serious and honest, because you’re putting us on the spot, so you answer the question.”

The tense moment took place at the movie’s press conference at the Venice Film Festival following its premiere.

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