Michael Caine rejects claim that Zulu incites far-right extremism as ‘bull****’
9 March 2023, 09:16 | Updated: 9 March 2023, 11:20
Sir Michael Caine has described the inclusion of the film Zulu on a list of cultural works that could incite the far right as the “biggest load of bull****” he has ever heard.
Last month a review of counter-terrorism programme Prevent found that Zulu was among works cited as ‘key texts’ for white nationalists.
Other works cited in the report were Yes Minister and The Thick of It, the war film The Dam Busters, and the complete works of Shakespeare.
Sir Michael said: “There are no films I wish I hadn’t made.”
The Prevent review, which aims to stop people becoming terrorists, also found that the programme was failing to address extreme antisemitism evident in Islamist and extreme right-wing ideology.
William Shawcross said that he was “disturbed by the prevalence” of hatred towards Jews among people referred to the programme.
In Zulu, Sir Michael stars as a young officer, Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead, in the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879.
Describing his career successes, Sir Michael said: “I became an actor because I wanted to kiss a girl, and I got to kiss all of them, so I thought it a good profession.”
