Cleopatra on Netflix: Jada Pinkett Smith’s series sparks casting backlash - was Egyptian queen Black?

Queen Cleopatra is an upcoming Netflix docu-drama series following the rule of Cleopatra in the final years of the Ptolemaic dynasty in the North African kingdom of Egypt. Despite not even being released on Netflix yet, the show is already prompting a backlash.

Casting has become a contentious issue in recent years, with debates ongoing on whether straight actors should play gay characters, whether able-bodied people should take on roles of those with disabilities, who should play trans characters, and whether it is fair to change the ethnicity of both real and fictional characters.

Last year, following the announcement that the Little Mermaid would star a Black actress, some took to social media to complain, whilst others were incensed at the inclusion of Black Hobbits in the Rings of Power series on Amazon.

Now it's Cleopatra that is causing a storm online from both sides of the debate - the casting of Israeli actress Gal Gadot in an upcoming biopic film about the Queen was criticised for whitewashing, with calls for an Arab or Black actress to be cast.

Now a mixed race actress has been cast as Cleopatra for the newest instalment of the Netflix African Queens series, which has also been met with fury from some quarters, as others claim that the Egyptian queen was in fact white.

Why has the Queen Cleopatra Netflix series caused a backlash?

The upcoming Netflix series Queen Cleopatra follows the life of the Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt over her 21 year rule in the first century BC. The series will explore the Queen’s love affair with the Roman general Mark Antony and their role in the civil war in the Roman Republic.

In the four-part series produced by Jada Pinkett Smith, Cleopatra is played by Adele James, a mixed race British actress. The casting has been controversial because Cleopatra is believed to be of Greek origin.

Was Cleopatra Black?

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, spoke to al-Masry al-Youm, and Egyptian newspaper about the controversy. He said: "This is completely fake. Cleopatra was Greek, meaning that she was light-skinned, not Black. Netflix is trying to provoke confusion by spreading false and deceptive facts that the origin of the Egyptian civilization is Black.”

The only known Black rulers of ancient Egypt were the Kushite kings who lived 600 years before Cleopatra. The earliest depictions of Cleopatra were made in marble and don’t clearly show her ethnicity. 

Some scholars believe that Cleopatra was Black as the wives of Ptolemy’s descendants may have been of mixed ancestry. Jada Pinkett Smith appears to subscribe to this view, though it is not generally accepted in mainstream academia.

However, Cleopatra’s heritage was traced back to the Greek region of Macedonia in the time of Alexander the Great (356-323BC). She is descended from Alexander’s general Ptolemy I, who was born in Macedonia in classical Greece, and was the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt which lasted until the death of Cleopatra.

Cleopatra is best known on screen for being played by white British-American actress Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 historical epic. But Cleopatra was actually born in Alexandria, northern Egypt - she is  believed to have spoken as many as nine languages, including Ancient Greek and Ancient Egypt.

At the time of her rule, Egypt was a client state of the Roman Republic, but it is believed that Cleopatra, and other Greek descended rulers of Egypt would have retained their Greek cultural identity separate from their Egyptian and Roman population.

What has Jada Pinkett Smith said about the Cleopatra series?

Smith said that she worked on the series because she wanted to tell the story of Black queens. 

Speaking to Netflix news site Tudum, she said: “I really wanted to represent Black women. We don’t often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, and that was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them. The sad part is that we don’t have ready access to these historical women who were so powerful and were the backbones of African nations.”   

Queen Cleopatra is part of Netflix’s African Queens series which began with the four-part series on Queen Njinga of Angola. The docu-drama series features interviews with academics alongside dramatic reenactments of historical events.Queen Cleopatra lands on Netflix on Wednesday 10 May.