#NewMutants day! We won’t be going out to the theaters for a good while, so we look forward to its digital release. It’s bittersweet and silly to feel like we had any proprietary connection to this movie or the comics, but there’s a little bit of that.
I wanted to bring up again an issue that I’ve addressed a few times online, the mistake I made in casting a light-skinned person as Sunspot/Roberto DaCosta for our music video.
We had a very small independent and entirely unsanctioned under-the-radar production working off a self-funded, shoestring budget, racing against a protracted timeline.
Casting such a giant cast (for me) with so many logistical and creative requirements was a huge undertaking, and I felt a huge responsibility to make good on it. Casting Roberto was the hardest part of that process, he was literally the last person cast, days before production.
None of that amounts to an excuse, because we were looking for Bobby from the wrong angle to begin with.
As with all the cast, they had to look young enough to play high school, and I wanted them to be of proportional height to each other. I also specified race for each character, because that was important. But here was Bobby’s:
His being a dark-skinned AFRO-Brazilian is right there in his first appearance in the New Mutants graphic novel, an important part of his storyline, and one I should have referenced more closely. It’s there in his artistic portrayal in the issues I DID reference (by Bob McLeod and Bill Sienkiewicz).
I’m deeply ashamed that I didn’t acknowledge it, at least not with same level of care I placed when casting of the other characters.
I believe I got our final actor from a recommendation after none of the submissions panned out. But again, none of this matters because I should have reached out to a broader community of actors. I shouldn’t have rushed the process. I should have known better.
The fault lies entirely with me as the writer, producer, and director, and whatever continued criticism I get will always be warranted. I accept all the blame, and certainly none should go towards anyone else in the cast or the production. I’m deeply proud of their contributions.
I can’t make any comments with regards to Bobby’s portrayal in other media (comics and movies), other than that we all need to do better, and should be held accountable when we don’t. I’m really sorry.
