Outrage in the U.K as David Baddiel said Oppenheimer liked to pretend he wasn’t Jewish — like the film

Outrage in the U.K asDavid Baddiel said Oppenheimer liked to pretend he wasn’t Jewish — like the film.

This isn’t an isolated incident in the entertainment industry. There are many prominent examples of gentile actors portraying Jewish characters including Rachel Brosnahan in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Felicity Jones in On the Basis of Sex, Daniel Craig in Defiance, Rachel McAdams in Disobedience, Gary Oldman in Mank, Will Ferrell and Kathryn Hahn in The Shrink Next Door, and the list goes on.

Another day, another film/TV show/play in which a famous Jew is played by a non-Jew.

I have talked and written about this many times — about how it’s a question not of acting but of context: minority casting being presently dominated by the notion of authenticity, the question is why that doesn’t apply to Jews, and what that means for how people see Jews — so I shan’t rehearse it again.

But there is another, more complex issue thrown up by the casting in Oppenheimer. Any biopic on such a serious subject as the creation of the atomic bomb needs to delve deep into the psychological underpinnings of the narrative.

My sense of a possible omission in that regard was alerted reading Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian saying that the film “doesn’t quite get to grips with the antisemitism Oppenheimer faced”.

Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster Oppenheimer, a biographical drama about the creation of the atomic bomb, is out in cinemas now, and the casting has reignited a debate relating to who actors should and shouldn’t play.

British comedian and writer David Baddiel told Newsweek that “not every Jewish part has to be played by a Jewish actor” but he feels it’s important for a conversation to take place beforehand.

The historical movie, centered around the invention of the atomic bomb during World War II, features the real-life characters of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein, both of whom were Jewish. Within Oppenheimer the movie, they’re played by Cillian Murphy and Tom Conti, neither of whom are Jewish.