Actor Danny Sapani has been blasted for saying he thinks Winston Churchill can be played by a black actor.
As he prepared to tackle King Lear at the Almeida, the actor explained that he thought the role of the wartime Prime Minister could be portrayed by a person of colour but it needs to work both ways.
Speaking on GB News Amankona said: "I don't agree with him actually.
"Look, I think it's perfectly reasonable to say as an actor in an ideal world, it would be great if black actors could play Churchill and white actors could play black historical figures like Kwane Nkrumah.
Albie Amankona said that 'it would be preposterous'
GB News
"Who was the the the 1st president of Ghana, the first country in Africa to become independent?
"In an ideal world, wouldn't that be perfect? We don't live in an ideal world, and it would be preposterous to Ghanaians if Kwane Nkrumah were to be played by a white actor in a major biopic, just as it would be preposterous to Brits if Winston Churchill was to be played by a black actor in a major biopic."
GB News host Dawn Neeson explained: "Now the point Danny Sapani is saying is that it works both ways. I mean you can have a black actor playing Churchill or you can have a white actor playing a famous black historical figure.
"Because at the end of the day you're acting, you're being someone you're not, It's pretending basically.
Matthew Stadlen argued that a black actor could play Churchill
GB News
"Now I think that if skin colour has nothing to do with the story you are telling unless you are playing Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks where their blackness is very much an intrinsic part of their story, then obviously that has to be a black actor playing that role.
"However, Bridgerton they have colour blind casting. So surely Danny Sapani does have a point, doesn't he?
Amankona responded: "I think if it's a fiction like Bridgerton, I think that's different. James Bond, do what you like with it.
"Actually what we have to do is tell the stories from those periods in history properly.
Danny Sapani says a black actor can play Churchill, but it needs to work both ways
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"If we look at The Crown in which this actor played Kwane Nkrumah in a brilliant episode with the Queen where she went to Ghana and danced with the black president for the first time, it was a big historical event.
"If you actually record the history and show it in art properly, you will see that there are black people that were real In those situations.
Matthew Stadlen argued: "If it's well done, if it's well acted and well directed, well filmed, if it's on the telly and so forth, we suspend our disbelief quite easily and you start to look beyond that pretty quickly.
"If we're going to have this fascination, absolutely fine with these sort of costume dramas. The idea that we can't have black actors playing them would be utterly absurd."
