The Irishman in "The Irishman" is being played by an Italian(De Niro) and I for one AM OUTRAGED!
However, I can’t help but get my panties in a bunch over the fact they casted De Niro, the most Italian man on the planet, to play Frank Sheeran, “The Irishman”. I thought we were finally getting a mafia movie for Irish folk (some would say we already did with “The Departed” but that was just a mafia movie for Bostonians, big difference). This movie had a chance to be the Irish “Crazy Rich Asians” and show the world that you can cast an Irishman as the lead role in a big budget Hollywood film and it can still be successful. I was stupid enough to believe that the days were gone when leading roles in Hollywood films were only reserved for non-Irish white people as well as The Rock, Kevin Hart, and occasionally Jackie Chan. But nope, Hollywood is up to it’s same old tricks.
Now yes, Robert De Niro absolutely crushes every mob-related role he plays and yes Frank Sheeran doesn’t look so outrageously Irish that De Niro could never pass as his Hollywood counterpart
In the movie Gangs of New York, also directed by Scorcese, Amsterdam Vallon is the leader of an Irish Catholic gang. Guess who was cast to play him?
The Revenant is a film about Hugh Glass, an Irish American frontiersman, fur trapper, trader, hunter, and explorer. Guess who was cast to play him?
The Road to Perdition is about Mike Sullivan, an Irish hitman for a mid-western Mob. And who was cast to play him? Say it with me now….
Oh well, I guess for now Irish-folk are just gonna have to be satisfied with bit roles in movies staring other ethnicities. It’s just a shame as there are so many talented Irish actors out there who will probably end up wiling away in obscurity due to Hollywood’s archaic casting practices. The least I can do is give them a shout out in this blog.
DISCLAIMER: IT APPEARS ROBERT DE NIRO IS HALF IRISH. IGNORE EVERYTHING I JUST WROTE.