Michael Caine rejects claim Zulu inspires white nationalism

Sir Michael Caine has refuted the claim that his 1964 war film Zulu promotes white supremacy.

While speaking to The Spectator for a new interview, The Italian Job star responded to a British counter-terrorism report that ruled his 1964 film was a "key text" for white nationalists and supremacists.

The Prevent study also named works including The Lord of the Rings books, William Shakespeare's writings and The Dam Busters and The Bridge on the River Kwai as texts that could encourage far-right extremists.

Reacting to the report, Caine said, "That is the biggest load of bulls**t I have ever heard."

Zulu depicted the Battle of Rorke's Drift, during which outnumbered British soldiers did battle with Zulu warriors in Southern Africa in 1879.

Caine recalled to The Spectator that he was scouted for his role in the film by director Cy Endfield, who saw him performing at a theatre in London's West End.

"An American director who was in the audience saw me and gave me a part in the film Zulu as a posh officer. This made me a star and I never went back on the stage again," the actor recounted.

Elsewhere in the interview, Caine said of his filmography, "There are no films I wish I hadn't made... I got paid for all of them."