Hollywood casting has a complex history with race-bending, which includes both “whitewashing” (white actors portraying Black characters or other people of color) and progressive color-blind casting (Black actors portraying traditionally white char
The Epic Poem
The poem is one of the oldest and most significant works of Western literature. [1]
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- The Journey: After the Trojan War, Odysseus battles mythical monsters—like the Cyclops, the Sirens, and the sea monster Scylla—to return to his wife, Penelope.
- The Home Front: Meanwhile, Penelope fends off a crowd of suitors attempting to take over Odysseus’s throne, while their son, Telemachus, searches for news of his father.
- Legacy: The epic gave us the word odyssey, which is now used to describe any long, wandering journey or eventful quest
acters).
White Actors in Black / Non-White Roles
The historical practice of casting white actors in POC (People of Color) or Black roles has faced major scrutiny over the years. Notable examples include:
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- Angelina Jolie played Mariane Pearl, an Afro-Cuban French woman, in the 2007 film A Mighty Heart.
- Anthony Hopkins played Coleman Silk, a Black professor who hid his racial identity and “passed” as white, in the 2003 movie The Human Stain.
- Emma Stone portrayed Allison Ng, a character of mixed Asian and Polynesian descent, in the 2015 film Aloha.
- Jake Gyllenhaal played Prince Dastan, a Persian character originally from the video game, in the 2010 adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
- Rooney Mara was cast as Tiger Lily, a Native American character, in the 2015 film Pan.
- Joseph Fiennes controversially portrayed Michael Jackson in a 2017 episode of the comedy series Urban Myths.
- Mickey Rooney played an offensively stereotyped Japanese landlord in the 1961 classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
- Warner Oland and subsequent white actors famously portrayed the Asian detective Charlie Chan in early 20th-century Hollywood.
- C. Thomas Howell starred in the 1986 comedy Soul Man, where his white character darkened his skin to pass as a Black man.
- Laurence Olivier darkened his skin in blackface to portray Shakespeare’s Othello in the 1965 film
Black Actors in Traditionally White Roles
As the industry has evolved, directors have increasingly embraced color-blind casting to give Black actors traditionally white roles from comics, books, and existing lore:
- Samuel L. Jackson plays Nick Fury, a character originally depicted as white in Marvel Comics, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Will Smith starred as Agent J in the Men in Black franchise, a character written as white in the original comic series.
- Michael Clarke Duncan played the Marvel villain Wilson Fisk (The Kingpin), a traditionally white character, in the 2003 Daredevil movie.
- Idris Elba portrayed the Asgardian gatekeeper Heimdall, who is blonde and white in Norse mythology and early Marvel comics, in the Thor films.
- Pam Grier took on the titular role of Jackie Brown in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film, a character who was a white blonde flight attendant in Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch.
- Naomie Harris took over the role of Miss Moneypenny, James Bond’s traditionally white secretary, starting in the 2012 film Skyfall.
- Billy Dee Williams was cast as District Attorney Harvey Dent in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), a white character in DC Comics lore.
- Jeffrey Wright played Commissioner Gordon, another traditionally white DC Comics staple, in the 2022 film The Batman.
- Yara Shahidi played Tinker Bell in the 2023 live-action Peter Pan & Wendy, a character typically depicted as white.
- Halle Bailey made history when cast as Ariel in Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid (2023), taking on a character traditionally illustrated as white and red-headed in animation