Larenz Tate shared his opinion on Hollywood’s view of Black American actors versus Black British actors as a guest on the Earn Your Leisure podcast with hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings. During the discussion, the actor shared his belief that the industry prioritizes talent from overseas.
“I don’t look at it as a competition. I look at the collective,” explained the 47-year-old. “There’s brothers who are doing it, whether they’re doing it here in America, whether they doing it, you know over, from the U.K. or even from the mother continent, Africa. I’m cool with whatever it’s gonna be.”
“But I feel like Hollywood believes there’s more value in British Black actors than they do in Black actors,” he continued. “And I think a part of it goes into, that ‘Oh, they have an audience over there, so they translate internationally.’ Going back to that, what I think is, you know, a hoax. That we don’t sell or we don’t, we’re not valuable. I think they put that in the mix.”
He continued, “I think that Hollywood is in love with the U.K. and all things British. And so, I feel like the Black American actor, is, you know, I see what that decline is. But, you know, we’re here,” adding “But I love the collective…they killing it.”
The veteran actor currently plays Councilman Tate on Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s award-winning Power series and the spinoff Power Book II: Ghost. During an interview with VIBE, the Chicago native explained how his character makes “the impossible possible.”
Listen to the Earn Your Leisure podcast below.