When White Actors Play Other Races

When white actors play other races
This week Pan, the story of Peter Pan’s origins opens in the US. Already there has been
controversy. The film-makers caused an outcry when it was announced that Rooney
Mara, a white actress, had been cast in the role of Tiger Lily, a character widely viewed
as being Native American. An online petition that now has 94,000 signatories has a
crystal clear message to the studio: “Stop Casting White Actors to Play People of
Color!"
The furore over Pan is one of several where studios have cast a white actor in a non-
white role, which include the romantic comedy Aloha, written and directed by Cameron
Crowe, where there were complaints that roles in the picture were ‘whitewashed’. Guy
Aoki believes the casting was plain wrong. “As opposed to just hiring an actor who was
part Hawaiian and Asian, he gave the role to a woman who has her pick of roles, Emma
Stone can play whatever role she wants, she’s not hurting for parts.”‘Whitewashing’?
The list of films in which white actors have played other races includes everything from
romantic comedies to action adventures and fantasies to historical epics. Last year
Ridley Scott found himself under scrutiny because his picture Exodus: Gods and Kings
had non-Arab actors playing Egyptian roles. And in 2013 there were complaints over
Johnny Depp’s casting as the Native American Tonto in The Lone Ranger. Jake
Gyllenhaal also found himself in the midst of criticism because as an actor of Swedish
and Jewish heritage, he had been cast in the lead in the 2010 film Prince of Persia: The
Sands of Time.
Having white actors play other races, often in a ways that mock, is as old as the film
industry itself. African-Americans have long felt the full brunt of the ‘whitewashing’ of
roles as have other races, including Asians. “It was very hurtful,” says Guy Aoki. “The
upshot of that is you are basically telling the audience ‘Don’t take Asian people
seriously’.”There is also the argument that white stars in Hollywood have the biggest
pull at the box office, therefore a producer will cast a white actor in order to maximise
returns. According to this line of thinking Rooney Mara is going to give Pan better
commercial prospects than a lesser-known Native American actress in the role of Tiger
Lily. But many in the industry believe the argument that films with non-white actors don’t
crossover or engage prized overseas audiences is fallacious. “The myth that ‘black
doesn’t travel’ would be laughable if its perpetuation weren’t so damaging. From Will
Smith to Denzel Washington to David Oyelowo, the work of black actors is consumed
and celebrated in markets across the globe,” says David White, National Executive
Director of the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA.
In fact Guy Aoki believes the potential for non-white actors to do well in Hollywood is
now greater than ever given the changing world market for US cinema. “China has
become the second biggest movie market,” he reminds us. “And so if you have more
Asian-Americans in these films, they’d love to see themselves reflected. Why wouldn’t
they embrace a movie that has a lot of them? So I think that’s a ridiculous argument that
overseas would not accept Asian people.”Media watchdog groups frustrated by years of
intransigence are calling for an actor’s background to match the part as much as
possible.
At least one studio head, Tom Rothman, agrees with that position. “I think it’s a balance
between getting the very best actor for the part and being sure that diversity is properly
represented on the screen”, he says. “I do think when you ask about Native Americans,
when you ask about people of colour on screen in general, I think that the business has
to do a much better job of representing the diversity of the audience on screen.”
Audiences are now demanding more authenticity. They want to see a Native American
play a Native American and audiences are quick to object using social media to make
their protest known. Adam Moore, National Director of Equal Employment Opportunity
and Diversity at SAG-AFTRA says that “more and more inauthentic portrayals are being
rejected. More and more the creators of the content, those who greenlight the projects
and those responsible for hiring the talent to play these parts, are seeking talent who
can authentically tell these stories.”
Ultimately ‘whitewashing’ may decrease as the United States becomes more
multicultural and in turn Hollywood – where white males call the shots – becomes more
diverse. The second annual Hollywood Diversity Report from UCLA published in
February found that in 2013 94% of people in the executive ranks of the film studios
were white. With minorities under-represented in all stages of production both in front of
and behind the camera, it remains a white industry. Until that changes significantly –
and there are signs that it has begun in television – many believe Hollywood’s decades-
old tendency to cast white people to play other races in films will continue.

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