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Actor sold by Downey in blackface
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Even before mental disability groups started threatening to protest Wednesday’s opening of writer-actor-director Ben Stiller’s new action-comedy “Tropic Thunder,” actor Brandon T. Jackson knew the film would be pushing some societal buttons.
For starters, his co-star Robert Downey Jr. plays a spoiled Oscar-winning Australian actor who dons blackface for his role in “Thunder’s” faux action flick. Oh, and Downey creepily stayed in character and make-up throughout most of the lengthy outdoors shoot in Hawaii.
“I started believing that Robert really was black,” Jackson, 24, told us over lunch recently at Spice Market in Midtown. “It was weird when I saw ‘Iron Man’ and Robert was white. My mom came to visit me on the set and thought I was shooting a movie with Don Cheadle.”
Jackson plays an aspiring actor / hip-hop performer and “Scarface” devotee named Alpha Chino (who’s also a spokesperson for an energy drink named Booty Sweat). He got used to Downey with dark skin but other things were more jarring for the newcomer.
“He started showing up late to the set to prove that he was black,” Jackson says. “That tripped me out. Robert said to me, ‘Well, you know, how we are.’ I said, ‘No, I don’t know how we are. I’m here on time!’ “
Jackson says he researched the history of blackface in Hollywood films before the “Thunder” shoot and emerged from the experience with mixed feelings about how Downey’s character will be received at the local multiplex.
He says that Stiller did come to him at the start of the shoot to make sure the use of blackface wasn’t offensive to Jackson. The young actor only put his foot down when it came to one scene — the script originally called for Downey’s character to utter the N-word.
“I told them, ‘You all are going too far with all that. That won’t fly with me.’ ” Instead, Stiller opted to shoot Jackson’s suggestion to have his character utter the ugly epithet and have Downey’s character correct him.
Said Jackson: “Now that was funny to me.”
The film hits theaters today.
‘Digital exploitation’?
You can bet a lot of catalog-heavy recording artists will be watching this case as it winds through court. The Allman Brothers Band is suing its record company to demand a bigger cut of recordings sold through third parties such as Apple’s iTunes music service.
The Macon-birthed rock band filed its lawsuit against UMG Recordings Inc. in federal court in Manhattan this week, saying it’s a victim of “digital exploitation.”
The band wants at least $13 million and additional royalties from the sales of newly configured compact disc sets and digital downloads for use on telephone ring tones.
The Allmans were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1998.
A telephone message left with a lawyer for UMG wasn’t immediately returned.
Norwood on tour: ‘Call me!’
Within hours of Atlanta City Council president Lisa Borders’ surprise announcement that she’s withdrawing from the city’s mayoral race Monday, at large councilwoman and mayoral candidate Mary Norwood had an e-mail out to voters. And to Buzz Central.
To be honest, just reading the exhaustive five-page missive announcing Norwood’s ambitious upcoming “neighborhood conversations” with voters had us reaching for a Red Bull. In the coming weeks, Norwood has scheduled 24 different neighborhood meetings with residents. As Norwood explains in the e-mail: “You can tell a lot about the kind of mayor I will be by the way I ask for your vote. Hearing from you directly, face to face, with no in-betweens, is on top of my ‘to do list.’ No one knows your neighborhood better than you.” At the end of the e-mail, Norwood lists her home phone number. So natch, Buzz rang it to see if it was legit. Sure enough, a chipper Norwood answers the voice-mail recording and encourages voters “to leave a message of any length.” In other words, the Norwood campaign already has some really dedicated volunteers.
Celebrity birthdays
Aug. 13: Actor Pat Harrington (“One Day At A Time”) is 79. Actor Kevin Tighe (“Emergency,” “Murder One”) is 64. Actress Gretchen Corbett (“The Rockford Files”) is 61. Actress Dawnn Lewis (“Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”) is 47. Actor John Slattery (“Desperate Housewives”) is 46. Actress Quinn Cummings (“Family”) is 41. Country singer Andy Griggs is 35. Country drummer Mike Melancon is 30.
OVERSCENE
Current Atlanta Brave Chipper Jones and former Brave Ron Gant dining separately at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Buckhead Tuesday night, following Braves announcer Skip Caray’s memorial service. Chipper was with his wife Sharon. We’re told that the couple drank Aqua Panna Water, Crown Royal and a thyme lemon drop Mortini and ordered two iceberg wedge salads, filet mignon, hash brown potatoes and sautéed mushrooms.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“[WXIA news anchor ] Brenda Wood is doing a great job covering the Olympics in Beijing but apparently, she didn’t get to bring a hairstylist with her.”
— Dave FM’s Mara Davis, in between songs during her Olympics-themed “Radio Free Lunch” Tuesday
Contributing: News services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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