Wesley Snipes Reacts to Hearing That Blade Was Almost White in the Film

Wesley Snipes discussed his role as the titular character in Blade and reacted to the news that the character was nearly made white in the film. Speaking with Yahoo! for the film’s twentieth anniversary, Snipes was asked about the report about how writer David S. Goyer was originally asked by studio heads if the character could be white for the movie after he pitched it, and Snipes had a bemused reaction.

“Really?,” Snipes asked with a laugh. “I wasn’t aware — I think I heard that from the article, but I was not aware that that was part of the history. Hollywood!”

He added, “Can you imagine the creative person, individual, who thought of that?”

When asked what the film would have been like with a white lead role, Snipes replied with a laugh, “Wouldn’t be this! That’s for sure. Wouldn’t be as cool, lemme tell you that.”

Snipes also discussed his favorite part of the film, saying, “Just the ability to do something like that, you know. The idea that I was rehashing — or at least touching the coattail — of William Marshall, who did Blacula back in the 1970s. And the idea of having the Shaft coat, the long coat, and then being able to do martial arts. It was the perfect storm for me.”