Billy Dee Williams Confesses He Finds Blackface “Hysterical” And Says Actors Should Be Allowed To Do It: “You Should Do Anything You Want To Do”

Star Wars actor Billy Dee Williams shocked Bill Maher during a recent appearance on his Club Random podcast when he revealed that he believes actors should be allowed to do blackface.

The pair were discussing late actor Laurence Olivier‘s performance in the 1965 feature adaptation of Othello, in which Olivier wore blackface to play the titular character.

Williams praised his performance, while Maher noted how “problematic” it was.

“When he did Othello I fell out laughing. He stuck his ass out and walked around because Black people are supposed to have big asses,” Williams told Maher.

Maher replied, “And Bradley Cooper thinks he’s got a problem with the nose,” referring to the backlash Cooper faced for wearing a prosthetic nose in his 2023 biopic of Leonard Bernstein.

Williams continued praising Olivier’s performance, saying, “I thought it was hysterical. I loved it. I love that kind of stuff.”

When Maher noted that actors in today’s day and age would “never” be allowed to do a similar performance, Williams disagreed. “Why not? You should do it,” Williams replied. “If you’re an actor, you should do anything you want to do.”

The two then began to go back and forth as Maher maintained that actors would not be allowed to do blackface, despite Williams’ opinion. He then pointed out that Williams “actually lived in a period where you couldn’t do that, where you couldn’t play the part you should’ve played,” referring to segregation.

“But it didn’t matter,” Williams replied. “Of course it happened but the fact is, you discuss it. The point is, that you don’t go through life feeling like, ‘I’m a victim.’ I refuse to go through life saying to the world, ‘I’m pissed off.’ I’m not gonna be pissed off 24 hours a day.”

“That’s a great attitude, but it still did happen,” Maher replied.

Despite Williams’ perspective, Olivier’s performance was criticized and called an “outrageous impression” and compared to “an end man in an American minstrel show,” per New York Times‘ critic Bosley Crowther, who reviewed the play in 1966.

Scroll up to watch their discussion on the Club Random podcast.