The internet is divided over reports that actress Zendaya has been cast as Cleopatra in an upcoming feature film.
Denis Villeneuve will helm the Cleopatra biopic, which has been in the works for years, and directed Zendaya in the two Dune films, but people are divided over the casting choice.
People took to X, formerly Twitter, to slam the reported casting as "blackwashing" because the historical queen, who ruled over of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, descended from a companion of Alexander the Great.
Blackwashing was coined as a term to refer to when a usually white character is recast with a person of color (POC) to increase representation of POC communities on screen, according to academic Alyssa M. Smith, from The College of Wooster.
The queen's ethnic roots were Macedonian Greek and she ascended the Hellenistic Egyptian throne after Alexander invaded Ancient Egypt in 332 BC.
Some scholars believed she also had minor ties to Sogdia and Persia—modern day Iran—and as a result her skin may have not been as fair as her fellow Greek Macedonians.
Zendaya is a mixed race actress whose father is African-American, with Nigerian ancestry, and a white mother.
Newsweek contacted Zendaya and Villeneuve's representatives by email for comment.
"Did Greek actresses not audition for the role? Cleopatra is Greek," complained one person on X.
Another added: "Cleopatra was Greek. Zendaya is not Greek. Greek actors for Greek roles!!!"
And a third wrote: "Zendaya is said to play Cleopatra in a new movie. Another case of blackwashing & it's all a coincidence right? Hope the Egyptians sue them as they did with Netflix."
However, others defended the casting, with one user writing: "My girl is gonna EAT! Oscar nom is gonna be secured too."
And another wrote: "Perfect girl for the job."
Controversy around casting choices for the role of Cleopatra is not new. Netflix faced criticism and even a lawsuit for casting Black actress, Adele James, in its Queen Cleopatra documentary released earlier this year.
The debate about Cleopatra's appearance also flared up in 2020 when Israeli actress Gal Gadot was cast as the ruler for another movie about the iconic queen.
Kathryn Bard—professor of archaeology and classical studies at Boston University—told Newsweek in April that "we don't know what color Cleopatra's skin was and unless her mummy is found (unlikely) and DNA can be analyzed from it, we will never know."
"Her father was a Ptolemy of Macedonian descent, but it's less certain who her mother was. But even a so-called docudrama is bound to fictionalize much of her life—for entertainment's sake," Bard said.
Villeneuve was first linked to the long-in-development Cleopatra biopic in 2017. His other Dune star, Timothee Chalamet, has reportedly been offered the role of Octavius and former James Bond actor Daniel Craig is wanted to play Caesar, according to movie news website Film Stories.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
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