Blacked up Gerard Depardieu sparks race row

Published: 12:51AM GMT 20 Feb 2010

Gerard Depardieu as Alexandre Dumas Photo: REX

Depardieu has rejected the discussion over his right to play the mixed-race author Alexandre Dumas because he is a blue-eyed blonde.

He said the debate over his role as The Three Musketeers writer in the big-budget production L"Autre Dumas is "ridiculous" and "unnecessary".

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But France"s Representative Council for Black Associations has questioned whether he should have been cast as a man with Afro-Caribbean heritage, saying black actors are not chosen to play white roles in French cinema.

Depardieu said the issue is "not interesting" and "not a problem".

Dumas was the grandson of a Haitian slave.