Why did Baz Luhrmann approach Amitabh Bachchan to play Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby? Why did Amitabh Bachchan accept the role? Meyer Wolfsheim is an American. Baz Luhrmann could have found some American to play that role. The problem seems to be Meyer Wolfsheim is a Jew who makes money by illegal means. He is a bootlegger and match-fixer. Jews don’t want negative portrayal of their characters. It is a small role. It is a blink and miss appearance. May be Amitabh Bachchan was elated when Baz Luhrmann came to meet him and praised him.
Jews control much of Hollywood. Stories are changed so that Jews are not shown to be bad people. In the novel Indecent Proposal the man who makes the offer of one million dollars for one night to a married woman is a Jew and the woman who accepts the offer is an Arab. In the film they are not shown as Jew and Arab.
Jews did not want the exhibition of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. The film was based on the Gospels. John Patrick Foley, then Archbishop and President of the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications, saw the film and cleared it. He later became Cardinal.
Marlon Brando once said in Hollywood prophets of all religions are ridiculed except Moses. Later he issued an apology.
Not many American actors want to do roles that offend Jews. That may be the reason Baz Luhrmann asked Amitabh Bachchan to play Meyer Wolfsheim. Some call it Amitabh Bachchan’s Hollywood debut. Guest appearance is more appropriate. Decades back Conrad Rooks had offered the lead role in the 1972 film Siddhartha to Amitabh Bachchan which he refused and the role went to Shashi Kapoor.
