The Coen Brothers’ Thoughts on Diverse Casting Do Not Apply to Their Own Movies

No need to spend one more moment of your time wondering when the Coen brothers will offer their invaluable insight into the #OscarsSoWhite discussion.

In an interview with the Daily Beast to promote their all-white film, Hail, Ceasar!, the filmmaking brothers—who have been nominated and won several Academy Awards—talked diversity.

“It’s an absolute, absurd misunderstanding of how things get made to single out any particular story and say, ‘Why aren’t there this, that, or the other thing?” Joel added. “It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of how stories are written. So you have to start there and say, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’”

“You don’t sit down and write a story and say, ‘I’m going to write a story that involves four black people, three Jews, and a dog’ — right?” Joel continued. “That’s not how stories get written. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand anything about how stories get written and you don’t realize that the question you’re asking is idiotic. It’s not an illegitimate thing to say there should be more diversity in an industry. But that’s not what that question is about. That question is about something else.”

Wow. Insightful. A lot to unpack there.

They also argued that, “Diversity’s important. The Oscars are not that important.” This is true. Great point, guys! Speaking of diversity and its importance, here’s a look at some of your biggest films:

Hail, Cesar!

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

• Josh Brolin
• George Clooney
• Alden Ehrenreich
• Ralph Fiennes
• Jonah Hill
• Scarlett Johansson
• Frances McDormand
• Tilda Swinton
• Channing Tatum

Bridge of Spies

Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

• Tom Hanks
• Mark Rylance
• Amy Ryan
• Alan Alda

Inside Llewyn Davis

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen