By Monique
I’m so ready to watch Spike TV’s mini-series Tut, which is currently filming in Egypt and will come to our TV screens sometime this year.
The mini-series stars Avan Jogia as King Tutankhamun, Ben Kingsley as King Tut’s Grand Vizier, Nonso Anozie as General Horemheb, Sibylla Deen as Ankhe (King Tut’s sister-wife), Jogia’s “Twisted” co-star Kylie Bunbury as Suhad (a girl of Mitanni descent who develops a connection with Tut despite not being of royal blood), Alexander Siddig as High Priest Amun, Peter Gadiot as King Tut’s close childhood friend (and secret lover of Ankhe) Ka and Iddo Goldberg as King Tut’s soldier friend Lagus.
There have also been some pictures floating around the interwebs. It almost seems as if they’re viral photos, the way they’ve been secretly shared and not-overtly discussed in the media. A lot of them are taken from Jogia’s own Twitter/Instagram feed, Deen’s Instagram feed, and on Facebook.
How did you all find this? Not sure it’s supposed to be out, so don’t tell anyone you got it from me. #Tut. pic.twitter.com/FOCQUH6zV1
— Avan Jogia (@ATJogia) November 5, 2014
. @IddoG: Another action-packed day with these two @kyliebunbury @atjogia #TUT http://t.co/OFu2MM02Ho pic.twitter.com/CcD8ElxYhh — Avan Jogia (@ATJogia) October 8, 2014
Behind the scenes of #Tut via “@jtelice: The Pharaoh #avanjogia #tut #spike pic.twitter.com/0EeaT6NpaR”
— Avan Jogia (@ATJogia) September 17, 2014
That’s a wrap for the lovely @kyliebunbury #tut a memorable time with a great friend. A photo posted by Avan Jogia (@jogia) on Dec 10, 2014 at 11:36am PST
#tut A photo posted by Avan Jogia (@jogia) on Oct 30, 2014 at 9:22am PDT
King Tutankhamen, your @uber is arriving. #cameluber A photo posted by Avan Jogia (@jogia) on Sep 24, 2014 at 5:46pm PDT
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Regram @iddophoto and the Egyptian oscar goes to … #TUT Yeow ??????
A photo posted by Siby?a Deen (@jesuissibylla) on Nov 29, 2014 at 4:46pm PST
As you can see, the cast is an mostly-minority cast, which is not only refreshing, but necessary if you’re going to get a story about ancient Egypt at least looking right. I say “looking” because, of course, not everyone in this cast is from Egypt or Syria or Turkey (the latter two being where Mittani is located). But Hollywood is more about looks than authenticity, and on that front, I give this event series kudos. Hollywood could have done much worse, i.e. Exodus: Gods and Kings and Noah.
Also, it’ll show a lot of viewers that 1) Egyptians are people of color, not the Hollywood whitewashed versions and 2) people of color, especially darker-skinned people are more than just slaves. The actors shown in this are playing military strategists, soldiers, royalty, friends, and advisers. Ain’t nobody in this production playing a slave.
I’m so excited for this. Are you excited? Give your opinions in the comments section below.
Photo credit: Spike TV
Julian 