Julianna Margulies is speaking out against Hollywood for staying silent on antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war. The Emmy-winning actor attended the Variety Hollywood & Antisemitism Summit, presented by The Margaret & Daniel Loeb Foundation and Shine A Light, and said she is continually asking herself why many major Hollywood stars are not speaking out in support of Jewish people.
Margulies added that she’s “disheartened” by the silence, and she’s “trying to understand and work around why every single person in our industry isn’t standing up. I don’t understand. It is shocking.”
“Maybe they are afraid?” Margulies wondered. “I don’t know what they are afraid of. Losing followers? It’s just insane to me. That’s not how I roll. Listen, the last thing I thought in my life was that I’d be the one actress speaking out for Jews. I hope I inspire other people to come out and talk and use their voice and use their platform to draw attention to this.”
Margulies currently stars on Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show” as news anchor Laura Peterson, and she told a story about coming to regret letting her character wear a cross on the show. During her costume fitting for the series, the show’s costume designer put a cross necklace around her neck.
“I did not think twice,” Margulies said. “I put the cross on. And then the character became popular. I went in the next season and there in my dressing room was the cross. Because I have started this Holocaust education program for schools since that happened, I have thought…what if Laura Peterson was wearing a Star of David? We don’t have to talk about [her religion]. But what if that character was just wearing a Star of David? Why did i not just say, ‘Hold on, why is that a cross?’”
“On TV, characters are not ever wearing the Star of David,” she continued. “I regret that. I am sorry about that. I am going to be a lot more careful in the future…It’s so easy to put on a cross. Why isn’t it just as easy to put on a Star of David?’
Margulies stressed that she has no issue playing characters of other religions, nor is automatically bothered by non-Jewish actors taking on Jewish roles. As she noted, her “Morning Show” character is a lesbian single woman while Margulies is married to a man and has children.
“Does that mean I can never play a single motherless woman?” she said when asked about Jewish characters only being played by Jewish actors. “It’s a slippery slope. I am 100% on board that I cannot play Black or Asian…but when it comes to religion, I’m on the fence about it. I am an actor. I’m supposed to make the character I play believable. That’s a slippery slope…we’re actors, we are supposed to act. We need to be careful how we tread there.”
“The Morning Show” is currently airing is third season through Nov. 8 on Apple TV+. Margulies is an executive producer on “Jack and Sam,” a documentary about two Holocaust survivors.
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