From The Buccaneers to Bridgerton, colour-blind casting is becoming more frequent. But is this attempt at evening the playing field still causing people of colour to come up short? asks Caryn Welby-Solomon.
I was extremely excited when it was announced that one of my favourite book series, Bridgerton, was being adapted into a series for Netflix, even more so when I found out that Regé-Jean Page, a half-Zimbabwean actor, was cast as the lead character Simon Basset.
In the original books, Simon was described as blonde-haired and blue-eyed - but, in actuality, Page encompassed the role of Simon so well that many people forgot what was on the page. He was so dynamic in the role that it earned him an Emmy nomination and helped elevate Bridgerton to become one of the most popular television series on Netflix.