monuments are monuments for a reason
inspire inspire what in this case
Hollywood movies could certainly use a
little more diversity welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten
whitewashed movie roles stealing from a
god only imagine him would try such a
thing
where do you suppose we could find
someone so mad for this list we’re
taking a look at roles in movies that
really should have gone to a person of
color but the filmmakers went with a
Caucasian actor instead however we’re
excluding deliberate blackface and
yellow face roles that were done with
comedic or humorous intention such as
Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
and Peter Sellers in the party ashamed
of yourself this is a symbol of my
country don’t you paint some in India
yes we paint them all right but we don’t
paint slogans all over
we’re also excluding perceived cases of
whitewashing like Jake Gyllenhaal in
Prince of Persia that were not in fact
actual cases since Persians or Iranians
are indo-europeans and thus indeed
Caucasian or white my father was a boy
Nizam saved his life hunting number 10
Alec Guinness as Prince Faisal and
Anthony Quinn as outta a booty Lawrence
of Arabia you are merely a general I
must be a king this epic historical
drama has no shortage of stellar
performances for a movie called Lawrence
of Arabia though you’d think there’d be
more Arab actors in key roles there’s
work for me there
different kind to his credit Alec
Guinness by no means gives a bad
performance he clearly did his homework
on Prince Faisal and maintains a strong
screen presence with major Lawrence
Messi is a passion with me it is merely
good manners you may judge which motive
is the more reliable the same can be
said about Anthony Quinn as the howeitat
leader the Turks pay me a golden
pleasure yet I am poor because I am a
river to my people as committed as these
two acting Giants are though wouldn’t
their roles have felt infinitely more
authentic with people of Arab descent he
doesn’t better than you general but then
of course he is almost an atom number
nine Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell 21
inspired by actual events a majority of
the characters in Ben Mezrich
best-selling novel were asian-american
while this film adaptation isn’t without
a few actors of Asian descent the main
players are all white
well we’re printing money just cuz
Mickey left we’re gonna stop the casting
choice that infuriated people the most
was Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell who was
based on a chinese-american named Jeff
mah cute
I’m sorry just producer Dana Brunetti
claimed that he would have quote loved
to cast Asians in the lead roles
but the filmmakers reportedly had no
bankable asian-american stars at their
disposal while that might be true you
have to wonder how hard they looked I
let you down all right I get it
number eight Justin Chatwin as Goku
Dragonball Evolution I must have faith
in Who I am on paper the idea of a
live-action Dragon Ball movie sounds
awesome
the Dragon Balls they’ve been speaking
to you yeah fans of the franchise knew
this big-screen adaptation was gonna
suck however solely based on the casting
of Goku before he he died he asked me to
find you and to tell you that piccolo
has returned as an icon of manga and
anime Goku is one of the most
recognizable characters to ever come out
of Japan thus people were enraged when
the role went to Caucasian actor Justin
Chatwin it doesn’t feel right if I must
be missing something
considering how unfaithful Dragonball
Evolution is to the source material it
isn’t surprising that the filmmakers
couldn’t even properly represent the
main character nevertheless it still
feels like a royal kick to the Dragon
Balls I gotta go
number 7 joel edgerton as ramses ii
Exodus gods and kings what do you think
hid your sword where you would find it
Moses to be fair this isn’t the first
time a white actor has been cast as
Ramses yul brenner previously portrayed
the Pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire in
the Ten Commandments you will hear me I
am need you of course that biblical epic
was released in 1956
whereas Exodus gods and Kings came out
in today’s supposed to be PC world
what’s your asking it’s problematic to
say the least
naturally casting another white actor as
Ramses felt like one of the biggest
steps backwards that Hollywood could
take
it didn’t help that most of the other
actors were Caucasian as well but
Edgerton in particular seemed grossly
miscast that I said how can I believe
such a story where Brenner at least
looked the part of a pharaoh Edgerton
feels more like somebody playing
dress-up at a costume party go number 6
Laurence Olivier as Othello a fellow my
story being done she gave me for my
pains a world of size dating back to the
early 17th century this film source
material is a William Shakespeare
tragedy revolving around a Moorish
general she loved me for the dangers I
had past and I loved her that she did
pity them this only is the witchcraft I
have used here comes the lady let her
witness it though the titular characters
exact race has never been confirmed
back then the term more did mean people
with dark skin most likely from Africa
so why in the bards name did we get
British actor Laurence Olivier in
blackface for the role it is the cause
it is the cause I sold sure by the
mid-60s
Olivier had made a name for himself in
multiple Shakespeare adaptations but the
actor also had to create an accent and a
distinct walk as well as deep in his
voice for a performance that while
oscar-nominated was unfavorably likened
to Al Jolson’s infamous blackface
character Jack Robin in the jazz singer
mappy sunshine be sunshine when I know
where I’m number five Johnny Depp as
Tonto The Lone Ranger
crying boy Indian Johnny Depp has taken
numerous risks as an actor that have
ultimately paid off horse says you are
spirit Walker a man who has been to the
other side and returned alas every
performer has their limits and audiences
drew the line when they heard Depp would
be playing the lone Ranger’s Native
American sidekick great shot was
supposed to be a warning shot in that
case not so good granted Depp claims
that he likely has some Cherokee
ancestry in him but that’s never been
confirmed in any case would it have
killed the filmmakers to find an actor
who’s definitely Native American to play
Tonto
bad tree we know that Depp is one of the
biggest stars in the world what that
doesn’t automatically make him the most
qualified man for the job
my name come up number four
Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily pan there’s a
mouth to the fairy Kingdom we got it
with our lives anybody who’s familiar
with the story of Peter Pan knows that
Tiger Lily is Native American the folks
behind this reimagining apparently
didn’t get the memo though as they cast
the light-skinned Rooney Mara in the
role you lied to me had we told you she
was dead you’d have walked away from
your destiny the filmmakers tried to
compensate for this by having Tiger
Lily’s tribe be made up of various
different races and nationalities while
that is a noble gesture there’s still no
reason why Tiger Lily couldn’t have
remained Native American if you don’t
believe PG the night of a while Mara is
an immensely talented actress she simply
looks uncomfortable in this whitewashed
role as far as missteps go it may not be
what made the red man red bad but it’s
not that good either you have to trust
us why should we number three Emma Stone
as Captain Allison Inge Aloha you sold
your soul so many times nobody’s buying
anymore now here’s a casting choice that
made the Internet erupt like a volcano
Here I am complaining about
although seventy percent of Hawaii’s
residents are not white this box-office
bomb enlisted Caucasian actors across
the board to make matters worse Emma
Stone was cast as a character who’s
supposed to be one-quarter Chinese and
one-quarter Native Hawaiian you lied to
everybody as much as we love stone even
she felt this was a misguided decision
in retrospect director Cameron Crowe
additionally wrote an apology on his
blog you were distracting those Native
Hawaiians and giving them what property
that they already owned a thousand years
ago if there’s a silver lining to this
controversy it’s that more people
started to realize just how common
whitewashing is which will hopefully
influence change in Hollywood this major
is still alive
number two the main cast the last
airbender there are reasons each of us
are born we have to find those reasons
inspired by Eastern philosophies and
Japanese anime the characters in Avatar
The Last Airbender were largely depicted
as Asian and Inuit I’m just saying that
if I had weird powers I’d keep my
weirdness to myself you’re calling me
weird I’m not the one who makes muscles
at myself every time I see my reflection
in the water in this despised
live-action interpretation however our
heroes are all white and any Asian
actors are restricted to minor roles
you could argue that the cast isn’t
completely whitewashed seeing is how M
night Shyamalan populated the fire
nation with actors of Indian and Middle
Eastern descent
oh my prisoner Airbender I’m taking you
back to the Fire Nation
since the Fire Nation is primarily
depicted as villainous though this
ultimately sent out a negative message
banning the plains this is a scroll from
the Great Library this is our man our
world is going to change soon gentlemen
failing to accurately represent a single
character it’s easy to see why the last
airbender helps coin the term race
bending to get your airbending tattoos
you have to meditate for long periods of
time without losing focus some of the
great monks can meditate for four days
before we unveil our number one pick
here are some honorable or in this case
this honorable mentions
I’m the Revolutionary Guard that’s
nothing we couldn’t have made it home
six people’s lives depend on this it’s
not enough you all killed him and my
brother Henry not with bullet and guns
with haste
Ezra and I are your best ally right
Thalia we are both journalists and we
should work together you gotta help me
yeah sure your paintings were very um
help you with what it’s in my garage
unless you take the things that you
don’t like about this world and you flip
them upside down right on their ass
don’t tell your parents I use that word
and you can start that today number one
John Wayne as Temujin or Genghis Khan
the Conqueror you’re cute
in your wrath John Wayne will forever be
remembered as a screen legend with that
said it was hard imagining the actor
playing anybody other than a cowboy or a
cavalry man or while I have fingers to
grasp a sword a nice to see your
treacherous head is not safe on your
shoulders given his narrow range it was
especially hard to accept the Duke as
Genghis Khan no seriously we’re not
making this up
I can agenda chief of all Mongols and
henceforth ruler over the positions of
weighing Khan make known to all men
present at a far-off also oppose me
shall be destroyed John Wayne the most
American actor who ever lived
plays the founder of the Mongol Empire
that sounds like the setup to a joke and
the Conqueror is admittedly pretty
hilarious at times of course none of
those laughs were intentional
on that basis this was undoubtedly one
of the most ill-advised casting choices
ever no this woman I take you for a wife
do you agree with our list
what whitewashed movie role do you think
was the most misguided casting choice
first look features Scarlett Johansson
as the special ops human cyborg hybrid
called the major leading an elite task
force called section 9 for more
entertaining top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
you
inspire inspire what in this case
Hollywood movies could certainly use a
little more diversity welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top ten
whitewashed movie roles stealing from a
god only imagine him would try such a
thing
where do you suppose we could find
someone so mad for this list we’re
taking a look at roles in movies that
really should have gone to a person of
color but the filmmakers went with a
Caucasian actor instead however we’re
excluding deliberate blackface and
yellow face roles that were done with
comedic or humorous intention such as
Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
and Peter Sellers in the party ashamed
of yourself this is a symbol of my
country don’t you paint some in India
yes we paint them all right but we don’t
paint slogans all over
we’re also excluding perceived cases of
whitewashing like Jake Gyllenhaal in
Prince of Persia that were not in fact
actual cases since Persians or Iranians
are indo-europeans and thus indeed
Caucasian or white my father was a boy
Nizam saved his life hunting number 10
Alec Guinness as Prince Faisal and
Anthony Quinn as outta a booty Lawrence
of Arabia you are merely a general I
must be a king this epic historical
drama has no shortage of stellar
performances for a movie called Lawrence
of Arabia though you’d think there’d be
more Arab actors in key roles there’s
work for me there
different kind to his credit Alec
Guinness by no means gives a bad
performance he clearly did his homework
on Prince Faisal and maintains a strong
screen presence with major Lawrence
Messi is a passion with me it is merely
good manners you may judge which motive
is the more reliable the same can be
said about Anthony Quinn as the howeitat
leader the Turks pay me a golden
pleasure yet I am poor because I am a
river to my people as committed as these
two acting Giants are though wouldn’t
their roles have felt infinitely more
authentic with people of Arab descent he
doesn’t better than you general but then
of course he is almost an atom number
nine Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell 21
inspired by actual events a majority of
the characters in Ben Mezrich
best-selling novel were asian-american
while this film adaptation isn’t without
a few actors of Asian descent the main
players are all white
well we’re printing money just cuz
Mickey left we’re gonna stop the casting
choice that infuriated people the most
was Jim Sturgess as Ben Campbell who was
based on a chinese-american named Jeff
mah cute
I’m sorry just producer Dana Brunetti
claimed that he would have quote loved
to cast Asians in the lead roles
but the filmmakers reportedly had no
bankable asian-american stars at their
disposal while that might be true you
have to wonder how hard they looked I
let you down all right I get it
number eight Justin Chatwin as Goku
Dragonball Evolution I must have faith
in Who I am on paper the idea of a
live-action Dragon Ball movie sounds
awesome
the Dragon Balls they’ve been speaking
to you yeah fans of the franchise knew
this big-screen adaptation was gonna
suck however solely based on the casting
of Goku before he he died he asked me to
find you and to tell you that piccolo
has returned as an icon of manga and
anime Goku is one of the most
recognizable characters to ever come out
of Japan thus people were enraged when
the role went to Caucasian actor Justin
Chatwin it doesn’t feel right if I must
be missing something
considering how unfaithful Dragonball
Evolution is to the source material it
isn’t surprising that the filmmakers
couldn’t even properly represent the
main character nevertheless it still
feels like a royal kick to the Dragon
Balls I gotta go
number 7 joel edgerton as ramses ii
Exodus gods and kings what do you think
hid your sword where you would find it
Moses to be fair this isn’t the first
time a white actor has been cast as
Ramses yul brenner previously portrayed
the Pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire in
the Ten Commandments you will hear me I
am need you of course that biblical epic
was released in 1956
whereas Exodus gods and Kings came out
in today’s supposed to be PC world
what’s your asking it’s problematic to
say the least
naturally casting another white actor as
Ramses felt like one of the biggest
steps backwards that Hollywood could
take
it didn’t help that most of the other
actors were Caucasian as well but
Edgerton in particular seemed grossly
miscast that I said how can I believe
such a story where Brenner at least
looked the part of a pharaoh Edgerton
feels more like somebody playing
dress-up at a costume party go number 6
Laurence Olivier as Othello a fellow my
story being done she gave me for my
pains a world of size dating back to the
early 17th century this film source
material is a William Shakespeare
tragedy revolving around a Moorish
general she loved me for the dangers I
had past and I loved her that she did
pity them this only is the witchcraft I
have used here comes the lady let her
witness it though the titular characters
exact race has never been confirmed
back then the term more did mean people
with dark skin most likely from Africa
so why in the bards name did we get
British actor Laurence Olivier in
blackface for the role it is the cause
it is the cause I sold sure by the
mid-60s
Olivier had made a name for himself in
multiple Shakespeare adaptations but the
actor also had to create an accent and a
distinct walk as well as deep in his
voice for a performance that while
oscar-nominated was unfavorably likened
to Al Jolson’s infamous blackface
character Jack Robin in the jazz singer
mappy sunshine be sunshine when I know
where I’m number five Johnny Depp as
Tonto The Lone Ranger
crying boy Indian Johnny Depp has taken
numerous risks as an actor that have
ultimately paid off horse says you are
spirit Walker a man who has been to the
other side and returned alas every
performer has their limits and audiences
drew the line when they heard Depp would
be playing the lone Ranger’s Native
American sidekick great shot was
supposed to be a warning shot in that
case not so good granted Depp claims
that he likely has some Cherokee
ancestry in him but that’s never been
confirmed in any case would it have
killed the filmmakers to find an actor
who’s definitely Native American to play
Tonto
bad tree we know that Depp is one of the
biggest stars in the world what that
doesn’t automatically make him the most
qualified man for the job
my name come up number four
Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily pan there’s a
mouth to the fairy Kingdom we got it
with our lives anybody who’s familiar
with the story of Peter Pan knows that
Tiger Lily is Native American the folks
behind this reimagining apparently
didn’t get the memo though as they cast
the light-skinned Rooney Mara in the
role you lied to me had we told you she
was dead you’d have walked away from
your destiny the filmmakers tried to
compensate for this by having Tiger
Lily’s tribe be made up of various
different races and nationalities while
that is a noble gesture there’s still no
reason why Tiger Lily couldn’t have
remained Native American if you don’t
believe PG the night of a while Mara is
an immensely talented actress she simply
looks uncomfortable in this whitewashed
role as far as missteps go it may not be
what made the red man red bad but it’s
not that good either you have to trust
us why should we number three Emma Stone
as Captain Allison Inge Aloha you sold
your soul so many times nobody’s buying
anymore now here’s a casting choice that
made the Internet erupt like a volcano
Here I am complaining about
although seventy percent of Hawaii’s
residents are not white this box-office
bomb enlisted Caucasian actors across
the board to make matters worse Emma
Stone was cast as a character who’s
supposed to be one-quarter Chinese and
one-quarter Native Hawaiian you lied to
everybody as much as we love stone even
she felt this was a misguided decision
in retrospect director Cameron Crowe
additionally wrote an apology on his
blog you were distracting those Native
Hawaiians and giving them what property
that they already owned a thousand years
ago if there’s a silver lining to this
controversy it’s that more people
started to realize just how common
whitewashing is which will hopefully
influence change in Hollywood this major
is still alive
number two the main cast the last
airbender there are reasons each of us
are born we have to find those reasons
inspired by Eastern philosophies and
Japanese anime the characters in Avatar
The Last Airbender were largely depicted
as Asian and Inuit I’m just saying that
if I had weird powers I’d keep my
weirdness to myself you’re calling me
weird I’m not the one who makes muscles
at myself every time I see my reflection
in the water in this despised
live-action interpretation however our
heroes are all white and any Asian
actors are restricted to minor roles
you could argue that the cast isn’t
completely whitewashed seeing is how M
night Shyamalan populated the fire
nation with actors of Indian and Middle
Eastern descent
oh my prisoner Airbender I’m taking you
back to the Fire Nation
since the Fire Nation is primarily
depicted as villainous though this
ultimately sent out a negative message
banning the plains this is a scroll from
the Great Library this is our man our
world is going to change soon gentlemen
failing to accurately represent a single
character it’s easy to see why the last
airbender helps coin the term race
bending to get your airbending tattoos
you have to meditate for long periods of
time without losing focus some of the
great monks can meditate for four days
before we unveil our number one pick
here are some honorable or in this case
this honorable mentions
I’m the Revolutionary Guard that’s
nothing we couldn’t have made it home
six people’s lives depend on this it’s
not enough you all killed him and my
brother Henry not with bullet and guns
with haste
Ezra and I are your best ally right
Thalia we are both journalists and we
should work together you gotta help me
yeah sure your paintings were very um
help you with what it’s in my garage
unless you take the things that you
don’t like about this world and you flip
them upside down right on their ass
don’t tell your parents I use that word
and you can start that today number one
John Wayne as Temujin or Genghis Khan
the Conqueror you’re cute
in your wrath John Wayne will forever be
remembered as a screen legend with that
said it was hard imagining the actor
playing anybody other than a cowboy or a
cavalry man or while I have fingers to
grasp a sword a nice to see your
treacherous head is not safe on your
shoulders given his narrow range it was
especially hard to accept the Duke as
Genghis Khan no seriously we’re not
making this up
I can agenda chief of all Mongols and
henceforth ruler over the positions of
weighing Khan make known to all men
present at a far-off also oppose me
shall be destroyed John Wayne the most
American actor who ever lived
plays the founder of the Mongol Empire
that sounds like the setup to a joke and
the Conqueror is admittedly pretty
hilarious at times of course none of
those laughs were intentional
on that basis this was undoubtedly one
of the most ill-advised casting choices
ever no this woman I take you for a wife
do you agree with our list
what whitewashed movie role do you think
was the most misguided casting choice
first look features Scarlett Johansson
as the special ops human cyborg hybrid
called the major leading an elite task
force called section 9 for more
entertaining top 10s published every day
be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com
you
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