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Michael Caine to Black Actors: ‘Be Patient’

The 82-year-old actor responds to Oscar boycott.

Michael Caine is the latest star actor to weigh in on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, telling a BBC reporter that black actors should “be patient.” The 82-year-old Oscar-winner said: “You can’t vote for an actor because he’s black. You can’t just say, ‘I’m going to vote for him. He’s not very good, but he’s black. I’ll vote for him.’ You have to give a good performance.” Caine added that he wasn’t very aware of the nominees this year, inquiring aloud on the radio if Idris Elba, star of Beasts of No Nation, was nominated. “I saw Idris, and I thought he was wonderful. I thought he would get [nominated]. Did he not get nominated?” For the second year in a row, all 20 nominees up for acting awards are all white. “The great thing about it is you don’t have to go,” he noted for those who didn’t get a nod.