Sarah Silverman Calls Out Hollywood's Jewface Problem in New Podcast Episode

Sarah Silverman is calling out a problem in Hollywood that no one seems to notice.

The 50-year-old actress opened up on her podcast about how the industry likes to hire non-Jewish people for Jewish roles.

Click inside to read what Sarah had to share…

“There’s this long tradition of non-Jews playing Jews, and not just playing people who happen to be Jewish but people whose Jewishness is their whole being,” Sarah started. “One could argue, for instance, that a Gentile [a non-Jew] playing Joan Rivers correctly would be doing what is actually called ‘Jewface.’”

She continued, “It’s defined as when a non-Jew portrays a Jew with the Jewishness front and center, often with makeup or changing of features, big fake nose, all the New York-y or Yiddish-y inflection. And in a time when the importance of representation is seen as so essential and so front and center, why does ours constantly get breached even today in the thick of it?”

Sarah pointed out that if there is a female Jewish character who is “courageous or deserves love, she is never played by a Jew.”

While pointing out that Kathryn Hahn, who is Catholic, was tapped to play Joan Rivers in an upcoming biopic, she also noted that Felicity Jones, and Rachael Brosnahan have played fictional Jewish women, and yet they are not.

She said that while the actresses are “doing anything wrong,” she said that the theme is “f***ed up.”

“Right now, representation f***ing matters. It has to also finally matter for Jews as well,” she added. “Especially Jewish women.”

Just recently, Sarah was one of the many celebrities that signed an open letter to world leaders over COVID-19.