• About Kathy Shaidle
  • Kathy Shaidle: Privacy policy

5 Feet of Fury

Kathy Shaidle's blog. Est. 2000

Joe Bob Briggs: “We need a strong female character for this…”

October 19, 2017 By Kathy Shaidle

Joe Bob Briggs writes:

It started in the ’90s, I think, with the whole “Go Black” movement. I remember going to an audition for the role of a police captain in a TV movie, and when I got to the waiting room, the receptionist said, “Oh, I’m sorry, you didn’t hear? Somebody should have called you. We’re going black with this role.”

(…)

What I wanted to say was: Wait, is this the same female casting director who is notorious in New York City for bringing actresses to tears by telling them that they’re too short, too fat, too blond, too perky, too old, too young, too chubby, too Jewish, too ethnic, too whatever—in other words, pointing out things they have no control over—because the script is written this way and the script is sacred?

Yes, it was the same woman. Apparently skin color was the only thing that wasn’t sacred in a shooting script.

More from my site

  • ‘Indonesia!’ Meet Master Impressionist Jim Meskimen‘Indonesia!’ Meet Master Impressionist Jim Meskimen
  • Book about the Weekly World News coming out next monthBook about the Weekly World News coming out next month
  • Freakonomics comes to life: ‘Fellony’ arrested for felony batteryFreakonomics comes to life: ‘Fellony’ arrested for felony battery
  • Shocker: black people and white people have DIFFERENT KINDS OF HAIR!Shocker: black people and white people have DIFFERENT KINDS OF HAIR!

Filed Under: Kathy Shaidle

« Rick McGinnis on Richard Florida and “Overselling the creative class”
MUST READ: “I Was an Eight-Year-Old Drag Queen” »

Archives

Copyright © 2026 · Magazine Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in