Actor Laurence Fishburne, known throughout his 40-plus years film and TV career for taking on groundbreaking roles, will be adding a new line to his extensive resume. He will be the first African American to take on the iconic role of Perry White, Editor-in-Chief of the Metropolis Daily Planet.
Fishburne has signed on to portray White for the new “Superman: Man of Steel” film currently in production. He will join other high profile names such as Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Julia Ormond, Michael Shannon, Amy Adams, and possibly Russell Crowe (who is currently in negotiations). Superman will be played by British actor Henry Cavill (The Tudors). Some of Fishburne’s most memorable roles have been in films and TV shows like “Apocalypse Now,” “The Matrix” trilogy, “Event Horizon,” “Searching for Bobby Fischer” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
Fishburne will join a long list of great actors who have portrayed the character of Perry White including Pierre Watkins, John Hamilton, Jackie Cooper, Lane Smith, Michael McKean and Frank Langella, just to name a few. There have also been countless voice actors doing White for decades in the myriad of animated Superman productions, including greats like Ed Asner.
Directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, “Superman: Man of Steel” is set for theatrical release June 14, 2013.
Hoo boy. mignash on the forums is not gonna be happy about this. 🙂
I’m not a complete purist, but I don’t know if I can see him as Perry White. That being said, it is often ironic that men with the last name of White are typically Black.
He’s a good actor, so I don’t particularly care one way or the other. Superman is not my favorite comic book character. Now if they’d made Samwise Gamgee Black, I’d have a real problem with it!
/rant/
It bothers me that in America that everyone who is Black has to be ‘African American’ as it denotes someone who was born in Africa and then became American whether they are Black or White! If you were born here, you should be called a Black American, or maybe just an American! Dijmon Hansou is African American, Laurence Fishburne is an American or a Black American.
/rant/
Personally I think Danny Glover would have been a better choice.
Excellent choice. If you want cast someone who’s imposing, strong and can fire a round of loud choice words on a dime… look no further than Larry Fish.
I’m not a purist, so I don’t mind the change in racial profile, they just need to keep the tone of the character on the same beat with the flare the actor can give him.
I’m just glad it isn’t Danny Glover… that would have killed the deal for me.