BOOKIES have announced that Daniel Craig is odds on to become the first white actor to portray John Shaft.
The iconic character – a no-nonsense private detective from the mean streets of Harlem – first appeared on screen in 1971’s Shaft, but has thus far only been played by black actors.
Craig said: “If I do get the gig I don’t want to simply be known as ‘the white Shaft’.
”I’d bring new depth to the character by swapping Shaft’s iconic leather trenchcoat for a quilted Barbour and having the chase scenes soundtracked by Muse and Neil Young.”
Shaft fan Wayne Hayes said: “The idea that he could be played by a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man who spent his formative years in Frodsham, Cheshire, is simply not in keeping with the spirit of the character.
“Craig was great in the James Bond films, which are justifiably seen as classics of whitesploitation cinema, but that character races around shooting guns and shagging loads of women which is totally different to Shaft.”
