The great Jew-face debate: Should gentile actors play Jewish characters?

A still from the fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, debuting in February 2022.

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A new trailer for the very Jewish, very popular TV show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel recently dropped, announcing its next season for February. Notably, the lead actor, Rachel Brosnahan, is not Jewish. Is that okay? Should non-Jews play Jewish characters on film and TV? Two Jewish actors approach the issue from opposite sides and duke it out.

Plus, the hosts debate Canada’s diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Olympics, and the recent convoluted controversy around the Toronto District School Board attempting to censure a Jewish trustee for speaking out against antisemitic teaching materials.

What we talked about

  • Read Matti Friedman’s “Eight Tips for Reading About Israel” at sapirjournal.org
  • Watch the trailer for the fourth season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on YouTube

Credits

Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold, Ilana Zackon and David Sklar. Michael Fraiman is the producer. Andre Goulet is the technical producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.