Seth Rogen issued an apology after photographs from the set of his new film Good Boys showed a child star’s stand-in wearing blackface.
Rogen, 36, acknowledged the incident “shouldn’t have happened, and I’m terribly sorry it did,” in a statement obtained by Indiewire on Friday.
“I won’t give excuses for why it happened,” he continued. “I’ll just say that as soon [as] I was made aware of it, I ensured we put an end to it — and I give my word that on any project my team and I are involved in, we will take every precaution to make sure something similar does not take place.”
He added, “I’m engaging in conversations to make sure I find the best way to do that. It’s on me to be proactive. Reacting isn’t enough.”
The incident first came to light on Wednesday when TMZ shared photos of the child actor wearing darker makeup as he stood in for the film’s 11-year-old star Keith L. Williams.
The site reported that sources connected to the production company, Good Universe, said it was “not uncommon for lighting purposes to match actors’ skin tones.”
However, a director of photography told Indiewire that using makeup to darken an actor’s skin was unorthodox.
“It is important for me to cast a person with similar complexion and physical stature to the actors they are standing in for,” the director of photography told the outlet. “In regards to makeup, I’ve seen wigs used and powder to take down shine, but maybe not as extreme as what is being suggested here.”
Rogen is producing the film which tells the story of a group of boys entering adolescence who embark on a quest to fix their broken toy before their parents arrive home.
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The film also stars Jacob Tremblay.
The news comes after the actor made headlines in April when he told Vulture in an interview that he would work with good friend James Franco again after allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior were made against him.
“The truth is that my perspective on this is the least relevant perspective,” he said. “I’m friends with these people and I’m a dude. All that combined makes me the last person who should be talking about this.”
