{"id":143072,"date":"2018-06-19T06:20:04","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T06:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/did-colour-cost-lenny-kravitz-a-major-role-in-big-little-lies\/"},"modified":"2018-06-19T06:20:04","modified_gmt":"2018-06-19T06:20:04","slug":"did-colour-cost-lenny-kravitz-a-major-role-in-big-little-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/did-colour-cost-lenny-kravitz-a-major-role-in-big-little-lies\/","title":{"rendered":"Did colour cost Lenny Kravitz a major role in Big Little Lies?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"LennyImage copyright Matthieu Bitton
Image caption The singer previously starred in films including Precious, The Butler and The Hunger Games <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rock star Lenny Kravitz says he lost a role on the TV show Big Little Lies because producers felt uneasy about casting a black actor as a villain.<\/p>\n

The star was "considered to play one of the husbands" in the drama, which revolves around three emotionally troubled women in suburban California.<\/p>\n

Big Little Lies was one of the most critically-lauded dramas of 2017, with an all-star cast including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern.<\/p>\n

Had he won the role, Kravitz would have been "the only black man on the show," he told the BBC.<\/p>\n

"And the word that came back to me was that, if I was the only black man on the show, they didn't want me doing what it was that I would be doing.<\/p>\n

"So that ended up not happening," Kravitz added. "The director [Jean-Marc Vall\u00e9e] was like, 'I so want you for this but we'll work together another time.'" <\/p>\n

Kravitz declined to specify which role he was up for ("I can't really say") - but it seems likely he was referring to Perry Wright, who is seen subjecting his wife Celeste to vicious beatings and psychological torture throughout the HBO series.<\/p>\n

The part eventually went to Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd, who won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance.<\/p>\n

The BBC contacted HBO for a response to Kravitz's story, but was told that "producers are deep into production on the second season for Big Little Lies and are unavailable for comment".<\/p>\n

Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Alexander Skarsgard and Nicole Kidman won multiple awards for their harrowing portrayal of domestic violence <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A second series of Big Little Lies is already in production with Meryl Streep expected to join the cast.<\/p>\n

Adapted from the Liane Moriarty novel of the same name, it touched a nerve with viewers in dealing with divorce, domestic violence, the troubles of raising children, school bullying, and ageing. <\/p>\n

Happy ending<\/h2>\n

Kravitz, who previously starred in films like Precious and The Hunger Games, was philosophical about being passed over - especially as his daughter, Zo\u00eb Kravitz, was later cast as bohemian yoga teacher Bonnie Carlson.<\/p>\n

"I'm much more happy that she got the role," he said. "It worked out wonderfully."<\/p>\n

The singer also denied rumours he'd be joining the show for its second season, playing Bonnie's father.<\/p>\n

"As fun as that sounds - that's not going to happen," he said. <\/p>\n

"But I love all the ladies in the show. I actually just saw them in LA, we had a birthday party for Reese Witherspoon and it was wonderful being with all the ladies and my daughter."<\/p>\n

Image copyright PA
Image caption Zoe Kravitz (left) is the daughter of Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kravitz is about to hit the UK for a series of dates on his world tour, previewing songs from his 11th album, Raise Vibration.<\/p>\n

Among them is the new single Low and the sumptuous, eight-minute protest song It's Enough.<\/p>\n

The latter recalls Marvin Gaye's What's Going On as it surveys gun crime, environmental disaster and the abuse of political power; and asks why humanity isn't doing a better job.<\/p>\n

"I just thought somehow \/ That things would get better," sings the star over a muted funk groove.<\/p>\n

"Well, I really did. I really did," he tells the BBC. <\/p>\n

"I am one who believes that peace and unity can be achieved. Since my first album in 1989, when I came out with Let Love Rule, I've always stood for that. <\/p>\n

"But over the last 30 years that I've lived, I've seen it get worse and worse and worse. <\/p>\n

"It's amazing that we just haven't learned how to work together."<\/p>\n

Skip Youtube post by Lenny Kravitz Warning: Third party content may contain adverts Report <\/p>\n

End of Youtube post by Lenny Kravitz<\/p>\n

\"YoutubeImage Copyright Lenny Kravitz Lenny Kravitz Report<\/a><\/noindex> <\/figure>\n

Kravitz recorded the majority of Raise Vibration by himself in his Bahamas home studio, assisted only by his long-serving guitarist Craig Ross. <\/p>\n

His current tour marks the first time he's played an album in concert before releasing it - which he accepts is a risk.<\/p>\n

"Of course it is," he says, "but it's OK to challenge the audience a little bit as well; and not just do the 'typical thing that you know works', you know? <\/p>\n

"Otherwise you don't grow."<\/p>\n

Besides, Kravitz says, he's better suited to playing Europe in the summer.<\/p>\n

"Well, you know, I live in the Bahamas, so I like warm weather," he laughs. <\/p>\n

"I've done European tours and Russian tours in the dead of winter and it's brutal."<\/p>\n

Lenny Kravitz plays in Manchester, Birmingham and London this week, and appears on the line-up for Radio 2 in Hyde Park in September.<\/p>\n

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • BBC Music homepage<\/li>\n
  • BBC Music News LIVE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Image copyright Matthieu BittonImage caption The singer previously starred in films including Precious, The Butler and The Hunger Games Rock star Lenny Kravitz says he lost a role on the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}