"Love Actually" actress Emma Thompson recently spoke out about her desire to play the first female Sherlock Holmes while discussing the importance of "gender-blind" casting in Hollywood, the Telegraph reports.
"Is the heroic role unisex?" the 54-year-old Oscar-winning actress mused recently to the British newspaper. "Or does it mean there is an area of life which remains unexplored, which contains stories which remain untold? I suspect that's the case and it will be very interesting as this generation gets into its stride to see what those stories turn out to be."
Last year, an all-female version of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" was staged in London, raising awareness of the importance of female inclusion in casting, both in film & television and theater. Thompson noted to the Telegraph that "gender-blind" casting, or choosing actors for roles based on their ability as opposed to their gender, may be novel, but it is just as important as "color-blind casting," or casting without regards to race, as was done for the hit medical drama "Grey's Anatomy."
When it comes to the Sherlock Holmes fandom, it may take longer to see a woman in the lead role. The decision made by producers to cast Lucy Liu as Watson on the adaptation "Elementary" sparked backlash and even outrage, though it did delight many women, including women of color, who have long been marginalized in the media.
"I have always been a huge Sherlock Holmes fan," Thompson told the Telegraph. "I would love to play a character like that, but that's a problem if you're a female. I'm always likely to be overlooked for not being male." Miss Thompson has often spoken about the "bother" of having to conform to male expectations of women by making herself look glamorous when she goes out. "Having to look pretty, that's what I mind, because it is so much more of an effort."
