Do You Care When White Actors Play Non White Roles?

Do You Care When White Actors Play Non White Roles

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- Michael Clark Duncan was amazing as Kingpin!
I know Johnny Depp would be a horrible Lex Luthor.
 
You mean DEI hires?
 
I assume this is a theoretical exercise because that hasn't really been happening for decades, only the reverse.
 
The Big Yin said:
Just looked at the numbers - it actually did fairly well. Turns out the Duke was the draw after all.
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No doubt Wayne was still a draw, that was the peak of his stardom and the reason he could demand a role. What numbers are you looking at though? It cost 6 million to make and brought in 4.5 million in the US. Globally it got 9 million total, but after the cost of marketing and distribution it's reported that they lost money and it was a massive financial flop. Howard bought back every print of the film (presumably from embarassment) at the cost of 12 million. Wayne got a "Golden Turkey" for worst casting, and the script was written with Marlon Brando in mind.
 
It depends.

Pacino doing Carlito's way and Scarface is awesome. And technically, Pacino can be considered a "Latino".

Mickey Rooney doing a Japanese landlord is outright intentionally offensive.

Noklais costa-waldemort playing an Egyptian was just silly.

RDJ doing Tropic thunder was a parody, and was/is protected by free speech, and ended up being a great piece of comedic art.

So, it depends.

I do prefer when actors of specific races/ethnicities historically correctly represent actual historical figures.

If it's fiction, IDGAF if Supahman were black, gay, trans, or a furry.
 
CyberRubberDuck said:
*Btw you're comparing two totally different things. Recasting a character (who is already established as white) with a black guy for diversity purposes is not the same as an actor who is white, playing the part of a character who is a different ethnicity.
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<WhatIsThis>
 
fungi said:
YTF not?
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Bad optics Gosling white colonizer Wakanda what can go wrong.



If your a studio head and you greenlit the above. I have to question your ability to stick to your fiduciary duties.
 
I don't really care. Actors should be allowed to challenge themselves and try out different roles. Some roles might be too difficult. Daniel Day Lewis playing Ho Chi Minh in a biopic is a little too much.
 
wh4tttt said:
Bad optics Gosling white colonizer Wakanda what can go wrong.



If your a studio head and you greenlit the above. I have to question your ability to stick to your fiduciary duties.
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So?..
 
Soul man and tropic thunder are bad examples. It's not a white actor playing a black role, it's a white actor playing a white guy playing a black guy.

You could get a black guy to play the white guy who is playing a black guy, but that's just confusing.
 
It depends on the degree of transformation, but in the past it was acceptable for the most part. I actually enjoy Laurence Olivier play Othello more than any other actor that played that role before or after. He was brilliant.

I think who can act part the best should get the role regardless of race. So yeah I guess I'm ok with it, but at least try to find an actor with the same race to play that role. If you can't find a good solid actor, than use the best out there available.

Same thing goes with homosexual characters. If you can't get a great homosexual actor to play that role, than just try to get the best actor out there to play it.

When it all comes down to it, it's all just acting and trying to convince you to believe the characters. So let it be.
 
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I care if it is a poor fit. I like when the actor looks and acts the part they're playing.
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a good example of a poor fit - that "chinese" dude was a walking talking satire, not good for a serious movie.
Same way I often cringe at how Russians are depicted by people who are unable to look and sound Russian.
On the other hand youhave examples like in the OP, Pacino is great in both Scarface and Carlito, and he looks much like a Latino man.
So I think that if you have an established character or a historical figure, stick to the existing image at least in its foundations. Going full accurate can cost you - not every small nation has a large pool of good english speaking actors. Good luck casting someone aside from Bjork as an Icelandic woman, for example.
But changing the color and ethnicity of actors in well established roles unless you are doing a known story in another setting is generally a bad idea.
 
Witchhunt said:
Eddy Murphy was great playing the donkey in Shrek.. everybody loved it!
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On the other hand, I recognize commercial realities, but I hated him in Mulan. Having such an American "urban" voice come out of a classical period, Chinese fantasy creature was a big stretch for me.

Strangely, Jack Black as Kung Fu Panda feels more acceptable to me somehow. Am I giving Black a pass because he's white? I don't think so. Maybe it's because Po is somewhat a fish out of water in the story or maybe its just that Black is great at playing a fanboy and that element is overpowering and cultural or ethnicity elements.
 
I think it's dumb. Especially if the person doesn't even remotely resemble the race they're portraying. It gets even dumber when the person's race is cemented in after the character has already been played in the past and then Hollywood comes in and does an obvious DEI switch after 2018. It's so obvious to everyone. Which is why "why do you care?" is the only defense that people can come up with.
 
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