Caleb McLaughlin is a highly known actor due to his appreciation-worthy role in Netflix’s superhit ‘Stranger Things’. The 20-year-old actor plays the role of Lucas Sinclair in the show. Recently, during the Heroes Comic Con Belgium convention, Caleb opened up about his personal experiences with racism.
He revealed that this racism was coming from none other than his young ‘Stranger Things‘ fans. While there was a conversation going on about racism that the fantasy fandoms project on the actors, he opened up about his experience when he first joined the show.
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Caleb McLaughlin Calls Out Racist Viewers
McLaughlin admitted that he was a victim of racism when he was working in the industry as a child actor. It “took a toll on him”. McLaughlin said, “My very first Comic-Con, some people didn’t stand in my line because I was Black. Some people told me, ‘Oh I didn’t want to be in your line because you were mean to Eleven’. Even now some people don’t follow me or don’t support me because I’m Black.“
“Sometimes it’s hard to talk about and for people to understand, but when I was younger it definitely affected me a lot. Sometimes overseas you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry,” he added. The actor pointed out the fact that he has fewer followers than the other cast members. He said that even though most of them rose to fame at the same time he did. “I’m on the same show as everybody from season one.” However, Caleb said that he is not the one who hates the people who give hate to him.
Racism In Today’s Hollywood Industry
Caleb McLaughlin speaking up about racism is definitely not the first one to address the issue. A lot of actors like Steve Toussaint from ‘Game of Thrones‘ prequel ‘House of the Dragon‘, Moses Ingram, and Ismael Cruz Córdova from ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘ also spoke up about the issue.
Toussaint plays the role of Lord Corlys Velaryon in ‘House Of The Dragon‘. He said, “It seems to be very hard for people to swallow. [Fans] are happy with a dragon flying. They’re happy with white hair and violet-colored eyes, but a rich Black guy? That’s beyond the pale.”
Ismael Cruz Córdova told that he got immense hate in his DMs as he is the first non-white person to portray an elf. “I fought so hard for this role for this very reason,” he said, adding “I felt that I could carry that torch. I made sure that my elf was the most Elven, the most incredible because I knew this was coming.”
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