BBC Photo
Killing Eve‘s executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle has responded to criticisms of the show’s lack of diversity in the writers room, following a strong public response over social media in June.
“The make-up of the room should be more racially diverse than it is, and we’re really aware of that and I take full responsibility for it,” she said.
“You look at that room and it’s full of brilliant female writers, we’ve got a really strong LGBTQ contingent, but it’s not good enough and we need to do better.”
Gentle addressed diversity concerns at Killing Eve: Behind The Lens, virtual panel on SeriesFest, according to Digital Spy. Earlier in June the issue gained attention when writer Kayleigh Llewellyn tweeted a now-deleted picture of the BBC show’s season 4 writers room, all of whom appeared to be white. It immediately prompted observations and criticisms from Twitter users.
They were quick to point out that the series features Asian and Canadian actress Sandra Oh as a prominent lead, demonstrating dissonance when it comes to White writers writing characters of color. Others stated that the makeup of the writers room is a reflection of a racially exclusive and unrepresentative entertainment industry in Britain.
Addressing these criticisms, Gentle added that the production did a lot of “soul-searching” and looking to make “concrete change.”
In a separate June 26 interview with Kerry Washington for Variety, Oh said she was very used to being the only Asian woman on set, and that it has been a “slow process” to “bring Asian American identity” onto her acting roles.
“Being the sole Asian person is a very familiar place for me,” Oh said.
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