Armie Hammer owns up to white privilege: ‘Guys like me have got a lot from being guys like me’

'There are white people who exercise their white privilege with or without knowing it'

Olivia Petter
Tuesday 05 February 2019 12:51 GMT
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Call Me By Your Name - Trailer

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Armie Hammer has spoken out about white privilege, saying it would be “foolish” of him to claim he hasn’t benefited from it.

Speaking to British GQ, the Call Me By Your Name star said: “There are white people who exercise their white privilege with or without knowing it and I would be foolish to sit here and say, ‘Well, that has nothing to do with my career’ [...] Guys like me have got a lot from being guys like me”.

But the 32-year-old stressed that his success does not come without a good work ethic, adding: “there is a lot of work I put into this."

White privilege can be defined in numerous ways, but is most commonly understood as the societal privilege that benefits people who are white, often at the expense of those from a black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background.

Hammer went on to explain how, despite being within the appropriate age range, he doesn’t consider himself a millennial, which is the generational moniker usually applied to those born between 1982 and 2004.

“It doesn't resonate with me,” he said before poking fun at the way some millennials behave on social media.

(British GQ/Eric Ray Davidson
(British GQ/Eric Ray Davidson (British GQ/Eric Ray Davidson)

“I don't know why millennials will go to a wedding and take a picture of themselves on the dance floor and then post it on social media and be like, 'Congratulations to Sarah and Jeff, so happy for you guys!'

"Just what the hell is that? That just doesn't make any sense to me."

(British GQ/Eric Ray Davidson
(British GQ/Eric Ray Davidson (British GQ/Eric Ray Davidson)

Hammer stars in the upcoming film On the Basis of Sex with British actor Felicity Jones, a biographical drama based on the life of Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

See the full feature in the March 2019 issue of British GQ, available on digital download now and on newsstands Friday 8 February.

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