Petition to Stop DiCaprio From Playing Persian Poet

by Travis Johnson

In a recent interview, Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Franzoni (Gladiator)and co-writer/producer Stephen Joel Brown stated that they hoped Leonardo DiCaprio would play the main character in their upcoming biopic of the 13th century Persian poet and scholar, Rumi. Pretty much immediately, an online petition was launched demanding that DiCaprio not be cast.

Brown, doubling down on insensitivity, would also like Robert Downey, Jr. to play Shams of Tabriz, a key figure in Rumi’s life. “This is the level of casting that we’re talking about,” he said, barely audible over the chorus of forehead slaps that followed his initial statement.

The petition, which you can find here, calls the notion of DiCaprio as Rumi ludicrous and offensive. “Muslim actors are readily typecasted as terrorists, but when a movie portrays a Muslim in a positive light, they are shunted off to the side to make room for another white actor. Franzoni and Brown need to cast a Middle Eastern actor as Rumi to truly challenge the Hollywood stereotypes. Sign to tell the screenwriters that #RumiWasntWhite.

“Rumi’s poetry is popular both within and beyond the Muslim world. His epics, Masnavi and the Divan, are considered among the best poetry ever written, and in 2014 Rumi was the best-selling poet in the United States. Casting Leonardo DiCaprio as Rumi rewrites history, takes possession of Muslim accomplishments, and gives the credit to a white man. Now, when people think of Rumi, they’ll picture him with pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. Sign this petition to stop whitewashing history!

Whitewashing is not anything new. Jake Gyllenhaal was cast as the title role in Prince of Persia, and Emma Stone was cast as an Asian pilot in Aloha. The makers of The Last Airbender chose three white kids to play the Asian heroes, and ethnic actors to play the villains. How are those choices are acceptable? There aren’t always roles for nonwhite actors in Hollywood movies, but when there are roles, they are given to white actors.”

It’s important to note that DiCaprio has not been cast yet, which the petition makesclear. On the one hand, this sounds like Franzoni and Brown were just spitballing names and thoughtlessly blurted out the two biggest male stars of the day, which is both understandable – any producer worth the title would want Leo and RDJ in his project – and, well, a bit stupid; it’s hard to be taken seriously when you’re carping on about Rumi’s cultural importance in one breath and saying a white dude should play him in the next. Also, I can’t see RDJ going in for racelifting, a practice he deliberately lampooned in Tropic Thunder.

It’s good that this noise is being made prior to any official casting – at least that way it has a chance of actually effecting change, before contracts have been signed and money has changed hands. Even if something like this doesn’t impact on actual negotiations – at this stage, I imagine the first Leo and RDJ knew about their potential browning up was when they read about it  – but it does go a long way towards demonstrating to the often insular Hollywood industry what is and is not acceptable in this day and age.