Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban Reportedly Affects TV Shows Casting Middle Eastern Actors
President Donald Trump‘s executive order temporarily banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries has provoked widespread backlash, multiple lawsuits and spontaneous protests. Though the ban affects many people across the country, it also has had a major effect in one particular area: Hollywood. TMZ reports that many executives, actors and casting agents are “freaking out” because “Muslim and Middle Eastern roles are pivotal for a bunch of TV shows.”
For example, an upcoming series “For God and Country,” from writer Dean Georgaris and “Homeland” executive producer Avi Nir, has a pilot order from NBC but will face multiple challenges considering the series calls for a number of Middle Eastern actors. TMZ also says that Netflix will also be affected by the ban as they have a show in development that features a number of Middle Eastern characters.
Furthermore, Marc Cherry, best known as the creator of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and Lifetime’s “Devious Maids,” has an untitled pilot for ABC that’s set to star a Middle Eastern man alongside Reba McEntire that will almost certainly affected by the ban.
READ MORE: Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban: How Filmmakers Around the World Are Impacted and Speaking Out
A casting agent told TMZ that shows regularly rely on actors from the seven countries named in the executive order —Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia — and while getting actors for these type of roles has always been difficult, the new order makes it “super fucked up.”
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