Actress Nia Long appeared on the Drew Barrymore Show last week to promote her new Netflix comedy “You People” and while there Drew and Nia cleared up the rumors about why Nia wasn’t cast in the “Charlie’s Angels” franchise which Drew produced. The movies starred Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu.
You can also check out a transcript of their conversation below.
Drew: All of a sudden this story about ‘Charlie’s Angels’ resurfaces.
Nia: It does. It was so weird it just popped up.
Drew: I’m one of those people that I can’t sweep anything under the carpet.
Nia: I can’t either.
Drew: Good let’s talk. So, apparently the story is that when you came in to meet with us on ‘Charlie’s Angels’ we were doing chemistry reads with lots of people, and I just called my partner Nan, we’ve been in Flower Films together for thirty years.
Nia: I actually remember her.
Drew: She loves you.
Nia: I know, well I don’t know that, but I remember feeling the love.
Drew: And I was like, ‘This is so bizarre.’ So, apparently a producer called your agent and said something to the effect of, ‘Eyebrows and age,’ what was it?
Nia: So here’s what happened. I go and I audition and first of all I was so excited to meet you…and it went really well…So, I go and I audition, then you go home and you wait and you hope to get the response which is, ‘You’re going to get the job.’ I didn’t get the job. It’s okay, it happens. But the feedback was, ‘My eyebrows were too sophisticated and I looked too old next to Drew.’ And that was the feedback and I was like, ‘What?’ It just was an odd way of saying you didn’t get the job. And so now that I’m older and wiser and we’ve been in this business for a long time, I think what was happening during that time is there were all these conversations about diversity, but people weren’t really pulling the trigger. I don’t think this has anything to do with you or your partner or your film company, I think this is just a result of the fear of really putting a black woman into a film that never cast anyone black. It was a first time for them. There was this initiative to cast more black women, have more black women on set, but Hollywood wasn’t quite doing it because I remember during that time I actually auditioned for so many roles that weren’t written black to the point where I was exhausted. It was almost like, bring the black girls in, bring the black actors in, so we can say that we did it, but we’re not going to necessarily pull the trigger. So, what I will say now is things have changed a little. I thank God for producers like you because I know you’re aware and you’re sensitive to it because you’re having the conversation.
Drew: Absolutely. Well, Nan and I really cared about, we almost felt nervous and bad, if you will, when it was me and Cameron. We were like, ‘Oh God that doesn’t feel right for us.’
Nia: But it was so good.
Drew: And the original ‘Charlie’s Angels’ were all white women.
Nia: They looked different still.
Drew: Hair color wise maybe but not really, I mean there was no diversity there. Let’s call that out. And we felt the exact opposite and this was in 1999 when those conversations were not being had and it was really her and I who championed the fact that like, okay we love our angels so far but now what? When we even went in to present ourselves as producers for the film, all the pitches for the combination of the trio all had diversity in it, and that was just something that felt right in our guts at the time. And, it’s bewildering to me that someone would say those things. First of all Nan and I would never talk about eyebrows. That’s not what women would do.
Nia: Women don’t talk about things like that and I’m 101% positive that it came from a studio exec that has no concept in understanding the importance of diversity, let alone what you stand for because you’ve been in this game Drew for a very long time. And I know your heart and I see your show and I know who you are so this was never anything I took personal at all. But I’m glad we’re having the conversation because black women and white women, women period, we need to talk, we need to stay in communication because at the end of the day it’s hard for all women in this industry. I don’t care who you are. It’s harder for us, there’s less roles, there’s less diversity but if we don’t talk to each other we can next have a show and create something with each other. We have to keep the dialogue going so I appreciate you being brave enough to, with me, have this conversation.
Drew: Of course. I was mortified when I heard because Nan and I would never speak like that and as far as age that’s the stupidest thing because you’re actually the same exact age as Lucy Liu so how is that possible? And I grew up in an industry where I was like, ‘I will not fall prey to aging and all that B.S.,’ like that will never be my thing I’ve watched too many people suckle off the fountain of youth and think they were less worthy if they looked older…
“The Drew Barrymore Show” airs on weekdays on CBS. Check the website for local airtimes.
