Jeffrey Wright Was Asked To Censor “N-Word” In ‘Ride With The Devil’
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Jeffrey Wright recalled a moment he was asked to censor himself using the “n-word.” In an interview with Entertainment Weekly for his new movie, American Fiction, Wright opened up about his time filming Ride With The Devil. The award-winning actor explained that the studio wanted him not to use the “n-word.” After he declined, Jeffrey claimed that the studio found another actor to do it.
“In this scene in which he has this kind of the apex of his awakening and his need to emancipate himself, the outspoken figure said, ‘Being that man’s friend was no more than being his ni**er. And I will never again be anyone’s ni**er,'” Wright recalls of his character in Ang Lee’s 1999 Civil War drama. “And it’s such a self-empowering statement and understanding of the word.”
“The studio at the time was so conflicted about how we market it. Ultimately, they decided we don’t need to market it at all. Then they had me come do the airplane version of the dialogue. They said, ‘The [N-word] here, we’d like to change that to ‘negro’ or whatever the choice was. I said, ‘Nah. That’s not happening.’ And they found some other actor to come in and do that one word, apparently, so that the airplane folk would be comfy in the darkness of their own ignorance around the language of race,” he added.
Wright’s American Fiction cast reacted to the story with shock. Tracee Ellis Ross was visibily shook by the admission, saying, “No they did not! Are you serious?”
“Are you serious?” Sterling K. Brown followed up.
Ride With The Devil was released in 1999. The movie starred Wright, Tobey Maguire, Skeet Urich, and Jewel. The movie was considered a flop upon release. With a $38 million, the book adaptation scraped in $635,096.
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