Green Book co-writer and co-producer Nick Vallelonga told reporters Sunday that he didn't know Don Shirley's family "really existed" when developing the Oscar-winning film.
Green Book walked away with top honors at the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday, including the best picture prize—an award many experts had predicted would go to Alfonso Cuarón's Roma. Moments after Vallelonga accepted the award alongside fellow Green Book producers, he tried to explain to reporters in the Oscars press room why Shirley's family was not consulted during film's development.
"I didn't even know they really existed until after we were making the film," he reportedly said.
Vallelonga also told reporters the only other person Shirley wanted him to consult was Vallelonga's late father, Tony "Lip" Vallelonga, who drove the musician on a tour through the Deep South in the 1960s.
"The Don Shirley family thing falls on me, but Don Shirley himself told me not to speak to anyone. He told me the story that he wanted to tell. He protected his private life," Vallelonga said. "He told me, 'If you're going to tell the story, tell it from your father, me. Don't speak to anyone else. That's how you have to make it.'"
Directed by Peter Farrelly, Green Book depicts the relationship between the black pianist (Mahershala Ali) and Vallelonga's Italian-American father (Viggo Mortensen) in the era of Jim Crow. Following its November 2018 release, Shirley's family and viewers accused the film of promoting a white-savior trope. The family even alleged to Shadow and Act that the film is a "symphony of lies."
Vallelonga defended the film in January and said it reflects Shirley's wishes.
"It's unfortunate to me because I don't want to hurt the Shirley family in any way," Vallelonga told Variety. "They were together a year and a half, and they did remain friends. There's a lot of information [the Shirley family] doesn't have, and they were hurt that I didn't speak to them. But to be quite honest with you, Don Shirley himself told me not to speak to anyone. And he only wanted certain parts of his life."
Despite the controversy, Oscars voters loved Green Book. In addition to receiving the award for best picture, it won for best original screenplay, and Ali landed his second best supporting actor award.
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Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more
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