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Zoe Saldana “Inspired” by Michael B. Jordan’s Essay About Diversity in Hollywood, Racism

Zoe Saldana "Inspired" by Michael B. Jordan's Essay About Diversity
Zoe Saldana wrote that she was "inspired" by Michael B. Jordan's essay about Hollywood's lack of diversity in response to Internet trolls: "Let's not throw rocks when we all live in glass houses."

She’s guarding him. Zoe Saldana wrote this weekend that she was "inspired" by Michael B. Jordan's candid essay about racism and casting in Hollywood, thanking the Fantastic Four actor for speaking up about the long-standing issue.

"Bravo!!! Inspired by Michael's essay," the Guardians of the Galaxy actress, 36, wrote via Facebook. "Thank you for speaking up. If we question why Michael has been cast to play the Human Torch in Fantastic Four then we must also question why Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra, why Angelina Jolie played Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart, why Laurence Olivier played Othello, Burt Lancaster in Apache, and the list goes on….and on…. And on…"

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Jordan, 28, penned an essay for Entertainment Weekly last week about the comments he's read about him being cast as "Human Torch" Johnny Storm in the upcoming reboot. "You’re not supposed to go on the Internet when you’re cast as a superhero," the Friday Night Lights actor wrote. "But after taking on Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four—a character originally written with blond hair and blue eyes—I wanted to check the pulse out there. I didn’t want to be ignorant about what people were saying."

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The Fruitvale Station actor continued: "I know I can’t ask the audience to forget 50 years of comic books. But the world is a little more diverse in 2015 than when the Fantastic Four comic first came out in 1961. Plus, if [creator] Stan Lee writes an email to my director saying, 'You’re good. I’m okay with this,' who am I to go against that?"

Jordan wrote that at its core, Fantastic Four is about friendship. "That’s the message of the movie, if people can just allow themselves to see it," he noted. "Some people may look at my casting as political correctness or an attempt to meet a racial quota, or as part of the year of 'Black Film.' …People are always going to see each other in terms of race, but maybe in the future we won’t talk about it as much."

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In fact, Jordan wanted to helm this movement. "Maybe, if I set an example, Hollywood will start considering more people of color in other prominent roles," he shared. "And maybe we can reach the people who are stuck in the mindset that 'it has to be true to the comic book.' Or maybe we have to reach past them."

He ended his essay by calling out his persecutors directly. "To the trolls on the Internet, I want to say: Get your head out of the computer. Go outside and walk around," the star shared. "Look at the people walking next to you. Look at your friends’ friends and who they’re interacting with. And just understand this is the world we live in. It’s okay to like it."

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Like Jordan, Saldana challenged critics to think broadly. "Let's not throw rocks when we all live in glass houses," she concluded via Facebook.

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