The director of the upcoming Netflix series “Queen Cleopatra” has spoken out against the criticism she has received for casting a black actress in the title role. In an interview with Variety, the director, who asked to remain anonymous, said that she was “flabbergasted” by the negative reaction to her casting decision.
“It is more likely that Cleopatra looked like our actor than Elizabeth Taylor ever did,” the director said, referring to the white actress who played Cleopatra in the 1963 film “Cleopatra.”
The director also pointed out that Cleopatra was descended from the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great’s death. “The Ptolemies were not Arabs,” she said. “They were Greeks, but they also had African ancestry.”
The director said that she was inspired to make the series after reading a book by historian Bettany Hughes that argued that Cleopatra was black. “I was really struck by the evidence that Hughes presented,” the director said. “It was clear to me that Cleopatra was a black woman.”
The director said that she hopes that her series will help to dispel the myth that Cleopatra was white. “I want people to know the truth about Cleopatra,” she said. “She was a powerful and intelligent woman who deserves to be remembered for who she really was.”
The series, which is set to premiere on Netflix in 2023, stars newcomer Thuso Mbedu as Cleopatra.