Image via Complex Original
Even if you've never heard of Hollywood whitewashing, chances are you've seen it anyway. It's a kind of casting where film studios have placed white actors in lead roles under the assumption that the majority of Americans would rather see a white face than a non-white one—despite what the role calls for. And while Hollywood may not resort to putting actors in blackface anymore, the practice of just bending the race of a character is not an uncommon one. Hence, Jake Gyllenhaal playing a Persian.
The major problem with racebending and whitewashing—aside from, you know, it being deeply offensive—is that it takes roles from actors who actually are of that ethnicity/race. In turn, they get stuck with minor roles that only serve to supplement the story of the white lead, or with stereotyped roles. For instance: If you're Middle Eastern, you'll be cast as a terrorist.
To demonstrate what a common practice this is, we look at 25 minority characters in major films that were portrayed by Caucasian actors, whether in make-up or not.
Written by Tanya Ghahremani (@tanyaghahremani)
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Wang and O-Lan in The Good Earth (1937)
Portrayed by: Paul Muni, Luise Rainer
This 1937 film, based on the 1931 Pearl S. Buck novel of the same name, remains one one of the most racist films in history. The story of a family of Chinese farmers has a principal cast comprised of white actors wearing pounds of makeup and prosthetics to appear Chinese. Not just one role, but every single main character.
The story goes that the original vision for the film called for a cast of actors and actresses of Chinese descent, but the studio, MGM, didn’t think that would make for a successful film. Instead, they cast a white actor, Paul Muni, as the lead, figuring that audiences would be more inclined to see a white man headlining the picture. Due to the Hays Code that was in effect at the time—it enforced racial segregation for romantic relationships in films—they had to cast a white actress as his leading lady, and thus Luise Rainer joined the cast. Yikes.
Jade Tan in Dragon Seed (1944)
Portrayed by: Katharine Hepburn
Yet another case of Hollywood’s sordid history with yellowface—this time, the casting involved one of the most iconic actresses of all time, Katharine Hepburn.
In this 1944 film, Hepburn portrays a Japanese woman named Jade who, when faced with Imperialist Japanese soldiers invading her village during World War II, stands up to the army. Casting white actors to portray characters of different backgrounds wasn’t abnormal at the time of this film’s release, sadly, but it’s still shocking to see the transformation Hepburn went through to appear as if she was of Japanese descent.
Massai in Apache (1954)
Portrayed by: Burt Lancaster
Hasn't America done enough to the Native Americans? Did Hollywood really need to cast pale, blue-eyed Burt Lancaster as the lead in a film about an Apache warrior, and try to pass him off as Native American by giving him a tan?
No. No they did not. But they did, and so Lancaster’s role as the Apache warrior Massai in 1954’s Apache is part of our country’s cinematic history.
Genghis Khan in The Conqueror (1956)
Portrayed by: John Wayne
The Conqueror is often ranked as one of the worst films of all time, and not just because of the tagline: “I am Temujin Barbarian… I fight! I love! I conquer… like a Barbarian!” It's also a wreck because John Wayne, Hollywood’s prototypical cowboys, portrays Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan by wearing makeup.
Another fun fact: A number of members of the cast and crew later suffered from cancer due to the locations used for filming. In other words, none of this should've happened.
Sakini in The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
Portrayed by: Marlon Brando
Even Marlon Brando said his role as an Okinawan translator in this film was “horrible” and “miscast”—something that’s especially true when you consider the fact that, not only did he have to go through hours of makeup daily to appear even remotely Asian, but his character barely did any translating in the film. Because Brando didn't speak the language. And when he (or anyone else) did, they spoke Japanese instead of the actual Okinawan dialect that residents would have spoken in the rural village where the film was set.
Miguel Vargas in A Touch of Evil (1958)
Portrayed by: Charlton Heston
Touch of Evil is a technical masterpiece. But it's got Charlton Heston playing a Mexican DEA agent named Miguel Vargas. Heston, of English and Scottish descent, is the farthest thing from Latino, so he had to don pounds of dark makeup for the role. Instead of looking like he was from Mexico, though, his skin appears in a variety of colors due to lighting changes. In some scenes, he almost looks like he's in blackface.
Ira Hamilton Hayes in The Outsider (1961)
Portrayed by: Tony Curtis
In 1961, Hollywood was still regularly casting white actors to portray minorities, so few brows snuck up when Tony Curtis, who is of Hungarian descent, was cast as a Native American soldier in The Outsider. Just another tanning machine accident we can blame on Hollywood. Cinematic history!
I.Y. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Portrayed by: Mickey Rooney
Breakfast at Tiffany’s has been romanticized to death by entire generations of filmgoers since its release. Which is weird, because it contains one of the most offensive performances in the history of American movies. Not only was Mickey Rooney cast to portray a Japanese man, the character itself indulges so many stereotypes about people of Asian descent, it would've still been offensive had an actual Japanese actor been cast.
The same way minstrel shows showcased overtly racist slapstick comedy featuring performers in blackface, Rooney’s role as I.Y. Yunioshi was a majorly exaggerated caricature of people of Japanese descent.
Maria in West Side Story (1961)
Portrayed by: Natalie Wood
Race figures prominently in 1961's West Side Story: It follows the story of two rival NYC street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, Puerto Rican and Polish. And yet Natalie Wood—not Puerto Rican—played the Puerto Rican female lead, Maria. To the film’s credit, Puerto Rican actresses were cast in supporting roles as Maria’s friends, but those are minor roles. They hang in the background, handmaidens to Wood’s whitewashed Maria.
Cleopatra in Cleopatra (1963)
Portrayed by: Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor’s role as Egyptian Queen Cleopatra in this 1963 film may be one of her most iconic but it’s still just another case of a white woman portraying a woman of color.
Othello in Othello (1965)
Portrayed by: Laurence Olivier
This case of Hollywood whitewashing remains one of the most infamous, as it earned actor Laurence Olivier an Oscar nod. And though his performance may have been great, the fact that he took a major role away from an African-American actor is just shameful—especially when you consider the fact that this film came out in 1965, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, just two years prior, actor Sidney Poitier had become the first black man to ever with an Oscar for Best Actor.
Hrundi V. Bakshi in The Party (1968)
Portrayed by: Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers was one of the palest British dudes around, and yet—with the help of some dark makeup—he played an Indian actor in The Party. Yes, the film is considered one of Sellers' funniest, but to appreciate that you have to get past his brownface portrayal of a bumbling Indian guy who gets into trouble because he's a he’s a foreigner in the US. The performance puts Sellers in the ranks of thespians like Ashton Kutcher.
Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Portrayed by: Jennifer Connelly
Movies based on the lives of real people often take certain liberties for the sake of the story, but the liberty A Beautiful Mind took by casting Jennifer Connelly as John Nash’s wife, Alicia—who hails from El Salvador—serves no purpose other than to rob a Hispanic actress of a strong role.
Brandi Boski in Stuck (2007)
Portrayed by: Mena Suvari
In what world can a woman as blonde and pale-as-fuck as Mena Suvari be cast to play the role of a woman who, in real life, is black? A really shitty one, that’s what.
The plot of Stuck is inspired by the true story of Chante Jawan Mallard; but in the film, Suvari’s character is named Brandi Boski. But she's got cornrows! Consider us fooled.
Eben Oleson in 30 Days of Night (2007)
Portrayed by: Josh Hartnett
An excuse for whitewashing and racebending often used by filmmakers is that they couldn’t find an actor of the correct race as gifted as the white person they cast. While casting 2007’s 30 Days of Night, producer Sam Raimi felt that Josh Hartnett was the best fit for the role of Alaskan sheriff Eben Olemaun, who in the comic book the film is adapted from is of Inuit descent.
In fact, to make Hartnett’s casting work, they changed the character’s surname to Oleson. The film is still set in Barrow, Alaska—just like it is in the comics. Neat fact about Barrow: The town has a population that's 57% Native American. White people account for 22% of the population. But in 30 Days of Night, there's only one Inuit character, and he's portrayed by a Samoan actor.
Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart (2007)
Portrayed by: Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie did a fantastic job portraying Mariane Pearl, the wife of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, in the 2007 film A Mighty Heart, and Pearl herself has said in interviews that she hand-picked Jolie to play her because “it is about who you are.” But we'd still like to point out that Jolie darkened her skin to play someone who is very clearly mixed-race.
Ben Campell in 21 (2008)
Portrayed by: Jim Sturgess
21 is based on a true story of a group of smart-as-fuck MIT and Harvard students, most of them Asian-American, who got together and counted cards in casinos all over the country. They made millions. Exciting story, perfect for a movie! How did things go wrong?
Adapting the non-fiction book, "Bringing Down the House," 21 went into production with Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth as the leads. A Korean friend (portrayed by Aaron Yoo) and a part Filipino, part Chinese girl (portrayed by Lisa Lapira) studded the background, but their stories were underdeveloped. Producers later claimed that they didn’t have “access to any bankable Asian-American actors."
Goku in Dragonball: Evolution (2009)
Portrayed by: Justin Chatwin
Whoever thought it would be a good idea to hire Justin Chatwin to portray a character named “Goku” from a Japanese manga was clearly tripping on some bad shit. No way in hell was gelling Chatwin’s hair to death fooling anyone into forgetting he’s a white kid from Canada.
Dastan in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Portrayed by: Jake Gyllenhaal
Because there certainly aren’t enough Iranian actors living in Los Angeles, Disney decided to cast Jake Gyllenhaal to portray the lead Persian prince in the action film by slapping a spray tan on him.
Meanwhile, actual Iranian actors are still stuck playing Pakistani terrorists on shows like Homeland, because actors of Middle Eastern descents are still considered interchangeable, even though there’s a huge difference in accents, cultures, appearance, and language. Go stereotypes!
Katara and Sokka in The Last Airbender (2010)
Portrayed by: Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone
The casting of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender is one of the worst instances of whitewashing ever seen in Hollywood. Though Noah Ringer does closely resemble his pale, wide-eyed character from the Asian culture-inspired TV series that inspired the film, both Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone looked nothing like their characters.
And here’s the cherry on top: Dev Patel’s character, the villain, is actually lighter-skinned than Patel in the cartoon. The film ensured that the heroes are portrayed by white actors, and the villain by someone with darker skin. Did no one see something wrong with this? No one?
Irene in Drive (2011)
Portrayed by: Carey Mulligan
No disrespect to Carey Mulligan, who plays Irene to great effect in Drive, but she wasn't physically right for the part. Her character, Irene, was written as a Latina woman in her late twenties. When director Nicholas Winding Refn met Mulligan, he felt she was perfect for the part. While Mulligan and Gosling’s chemistry is undeniable, her casting still robbed a Latina actress of what could've been a breakout role.
Hae-Joo Chang in Cloud Atlas (2012)
Portrayed by: Jim Sturgess
Jim Sturgess should probably watch out; being on this list twice is not a good look. This instance knocks his role in 21 out of the water though: Not only is Sturgess portraying a character who is Korean, he’s doing it in prosthetics and yellowface. What’s worse, only Sturgess’ eyes were altered by the make-up artist, meaning no one realized that his skin color and facial structure would also be different if he were actually Korean.
Yes, Cloud Atlas is a film about the repetition of history and karma, and the casting is one of the means by which this is conveyed. But damn if it doesn't make the skin crawl.
Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games (2012)
Portrayed by: Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence may have received tons of critical acclaim for her role as Katniss Everdeen in the film adaptation of The Hunger Games, but that doesn’t change the fact that, in the books, Katniss is described as non-white, with dark, olive skin. The argument can be made that Lawrence was chosen for her acting abilities—and she’s certainly a talented actress, that can’t be denied—but that point is shot down when you consider that the casting call asked for Caucasian actresses between the ages of 15 and 20. Hollywood, you didn’t even try.
Tony Mendez in Argo (2012)
Portrayed by: Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck gave one of the greatest performances of his career as CIA agent Tony Mendez, but it’s still worth mentioning that Affleck is clearly not of Hispanic descent while the real-life Mendez clearly is. While Mendez has spoken out in interviews about the casting and said that he doesn’t even consider himself Hispanic—“I don’t think of myself as a Hispanic. I think of myself as a person who grew up in the desert”—this is another case of a white actor headlining a major film as a character who is of an ethnicity that has a lack of non-stereotypical roles available to them.
Nora in Warm Bodies (2013)
Portrayed by: Analeigh Tipton
There are never any excuses for whitewashing to racebending in films, especially when the only excuse that’s used (by author Isaac Marion) is: “They paid more attention to the actor’s personalities than their physical appearances.” There were really no actresses of color whose personalities fit that of the half-Ethiopian Nora? With so few roles available for actors of color—and the few that exist are generally bit parts, or painfully stereotypical ones—it’s a shame to see a character that was fleshed out be so blatantly whitewashed like this.
Furthermore, if we take this excuse at face value true, why were the leads able to remain their white selves?