'Da 5 Bloods' star Clarke Peters says he didn't get cast in a movie for 10 years after not wanting to play a pimp: 'I was seen as a troublemaker'

• Peters told Insider his outspokenness to not want to play a pimp in 1986's "Mona Lisa" hurt his career.
• The actor said he didn't act in a movie again for 10 years.
• "I was seen as a troublemaker," Peters told Insider.

Veteran character actor Clarke Peters said early in his career he was shut out of the movie business after speaking out about playing a role that disparages Black people.

"In London I did a film called 'Mona Lisa,'" Peters recalled to Insider over a Zoom call last week, referring to the 1986 Neil Jordan movie, which earned Bob Hoskins an Oscar nomination. Peters was cast as a violent pimp named Anderson.

"I thought my career might lift off for me after that," Peters continued. "But at the same time I was fighting a battle for racial equality in the business. I remember I had a conversation with the casting director of that film and I said, 'I don't want to play a pimp because there's enough pimps shown in movies.'"

Peters' suggestion to try to tweak the villain role fell on deaf ears and he went on to play Anderson "as insidious and vicious as pimps are," he said.

However, after the movie came out he discovered his outspokenness affected his career.

"Prior to that movie, I had done three films and I felt I was going to have a nice career - I didn't work in movies again for another 10 years."

Peters said after "Mona Lisa" all his movie offers suddenly dried up. "I was seen as a troublemaker," he added.

For the next decade, Peters mostly worked in theater while finding the occasional guest spot on a TV series or TV movie. The next time he would star in a feature film was the 1996 thriller "Seasick."

Looking back on his decision to speak out about the role, Peters said it's just one example of how he's been his entire career: trying to combine his creative needs and desire to expand how Black people are portrayed on screen with taking roles that offer him financial security.

"It's been a battle the whole way through, to tell you the truth," Peters said.

But that battle has led to a rewarding one over the past few decades.

Peters, 69, is now one of the most respected character actors working today, having been the backbone of projects like "The Wire," and "Treme." Most recently, he earned a BAFTA nomination for his performance in Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods."