‘Colourism’ row: is Will Smith black enough to play tennis dad Richard Williams?
- The father of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams will be the subject of a Hollywood film
- But the casting of Will Smith to play the darker-skinned Richard Williams has sparked a backlash over ‘colourism’
Will Smith is set to star as tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams’ father, Richard, in the aptly titled King Richard, but the former Fresh Prince isn’t getting a very royal welcome.
The biopic centres on the athletes’ father, Richard Williams, and comes from a script by Zach Baylin. The script, NBC News reports, was runner-up on 2018’s Black List, a highly respected barometer for sought-after screenplays.
Despite his lack of a background in tennis, reported Deadline, which originally broke the news, Williams “overcame tremendous hardship, scepticism and his own troubled past to raise two of the game’s greatest players.”
He even went so far as to create “a 78-page plan for [Serena and Venus’] professional tennis careers.”
His efforts paid off, as Serena is widely regarded as the sport’s best female player in history, a result of her 23 Grand Slam tournament wins. Venus has seven Grand Slam wins to her name.
While Hollywood is clearly intrigued by the project – set to be produced by Tim White and Trevor White’s Star Thrower Entertainment – the public has taken a different view. The news elicited a “colourism” backlash given that Smith has lighter skin than Williams.
The term “colourism” is used to describe “the privileging of light skin over dark,” something Hollywood has been accused of more than once.
Clarence Hill Jnr said that while he considers himself a fan of Smith, “there are other black actors for this role.”
Similarly, Valerie Complex tweeted about the film, “Colorism at work,” while George M. Johnson reminded people, “Skin color matters in how folk were treated and navigated spaces.”
