The phrase "actor to be black" is not correct in standard written English.
It may be intended to describe a requirement or characteristic for a role in a script or casting call, but it lacks clarity and proper grammatical structure.
Example: "The casting director specified that the actor to be black should have experience in dramatic roles."
Alternatives: "actor of African descent" or "actor who is black".
From Bo' Selecta!, whose grotesque imitations of Michael Jackson and Mel B (always wearing leopardskin to signify her wildness) to Big Brother's Glyn blacking up, to Samantha Fox dressed up as an Asian woman, to white actors pretending to be black to play Othello.
Shakespeare's play is based on a legally questionable war, throws together English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish soldiers and sets them arguing about national identity and, in Hytner's version, they were led by the magnificent Adrian Lester who is a fine classical actor who happens to be black.
"And it just happened because two great actors won awards and they happened to be black.
Plenty of Ian Fleming fans want The Wire actor to be the first black Bond, but that could be exactly what is putting him off.
Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an Oscar in 1940, when she was honored in the supporting actress category for her role as Mammy in "Gone With the Wind". It took 24 more years for another black actor to be honored with the distinction of Oscar winner: Sidney Poitier was the first black male to win the lead actor category.
There has been little progress since David Oyelowo was the first black actor to be cast as an English monarch in Henry VI at the RSC in 2000.
On Wednesday, the only black actor to be recognized by SAG may well be Idris Elba, who stars as an African warlord in "Beasts of No Nation". Will Smith has a shot for his turn as a forensic pathologist in the NFL drama "Concussion," but many pundits believe his odds are longer than Elba's.
He had picketed for "black actors to be portrayed as respected people," but an award he won honored only "his fighting to get black actors work on TV — just work, any old part.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday, Michael Caine advised black actors to be patient, and said it had taken him "years to get an Oscar, years".
The last black actors to be nominated for Oscars were in 2013: Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave and Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips.
