Notorious Cases of Whitewashing in Modern Cinema

In the early part of cinema and television history, whitewashing was a commonly used practice, often due to the lack of characters of color in the industry. This method, where characters who were one race in the source material (usually a novel) were converted into those who could be played by white actors — a practice also called “racebending” — and, perhaps even more offensive, the casting of white performers as Black, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, or other characters of color.

Whitewashing can occur in many scenarios – “Blackface”, which was once prevalent, gave way to “yellowface” – and while the use of this method is thankfully on the decline, in Hollywood the practice of casting white actors in non-white roles is still fairly common. Both practices – whether whitewashing or racebending – stem from the perception on the part of directors and studio executives that audiences wouldn’t be interested in films starring non-white people they’d never heard of.

Examples of the first meaning of the term include “21” (2008), in which a true story about Asian-Americans who used card counting to win at Black Jack in Las Vegas casinos was recast to make the card counters white, and “Hud” (1963), featuring Patricia Neal as a white ranch housekeeper named Alma, subbing for the Black housekeeper named Halmea in the novel on which the film was based.

Countless films have employed this practice, dating back to the silent film era when American actor Lon Chaney played a Chinese elder in 1927’s “Mr. Wu.” At the same time, the career of American actor Espera Oscar de Corti, who was of Italian descent, reinvented himself as a Native American named Iron Eyes Cody, launching a 60-year career playing movie and TV Indians, of which his most notable role was as Chief Iron Eyes in Bob Hope’s The Paleface.

To assemble a list of notorious cases of whitewashing in cinema, 24/7 Tempo consulted numerous articles on the subject in publications including The Huffington Post, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, and other sites, as well as using editorial knowledge of film casting through the years.

This list is only comprised of films in the latter part of the 21st century and doesn’t showcase movies made before 1950 that employed whitewashing. There are probably hundreds and hundreds of examples of whitewashing throughout movie history. (These are character roles that have garnered the most Oscar nominations.)

Here are notorious cases of whitewashing in modern cinema:

Laurence Olivier: “Othello” (1965)

Source: Courtesy of Warner Brothers

• Actor’s ethnicity: British
• Role he portrayed: Moorish commander Othello

Marlon Brando: “Viva Zapata!” (1952)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata

Burt Lancaster: “Apache” (1954)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: Apache warrior Massai

Yul Brynner: “The King and I” (1956)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

• Actor’s ethnicity: Russian
• Role he portrayed: King Mongkut of Siam

Marlon Brando: “The Teahouse of the August Moon” (1956)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: Japanese interpreter Sakini

Ricardo Montalban: “Sayonara” (1957)

• Actor’s ethnicity: Mexican-American
• Role he portrayed: Japanese Kabuki performer Nakamura

Curd Jürgens (Curt Jurgens): “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness” (1958)

• Actor’s ethnicity: German
• Role he portrayed: Chinese-Dutch army officer Lin Nan

Charlton Heston: “Touch of Evil” (1958)

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: Mexican special prosecutor Miguel Vargas

Mickey Rooney: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961)

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: Japanese photographer I.Y Yunioshi

Natalie Wood: “West Side Story” (1961)

• Actor’s ethnicity: Russian-American
• Role she portrayed: Puerto Rican teenager María Vasquez

Joseph Wiseman: “Dr. No” (1962)

Source: Courtesy of United Artists

• Actor’s ethnicity: Canadian-American
• Role he portrayed: Half-Chinese villain Dr. Julius No

Anthony Quinn: “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)

• Actor’s ethnicity: Mexican-Irish
• Role he portrayed: Bedouin sheik Auda Abu Tayeh

Alec Guinness: “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)

• Actor’s ethnicity: British
• Role he portrayed: King Faisal I of Iraq

José Ferrer: “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)

• Actor’s ethnicity: Puerto Rican
• Role he portrayed: Turkish general Hajim Bey

Elizabeth Taylor: “Cleopatra” (1963)

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

• Actor’s ethnicity: English-American
• Role she portrayed: Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt

Peter Sellers: “The Party” (1968)

Source: Courtesy of United Artsts

• Actor’s ethnicity: British
• Role he portrayed: Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi

Elvis Presley: “Stay Away, Joe” (1968)

Source: Coutesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: Navajo rodeo rider Joe Lightcloud

Jack Palance: “Che” (1969)

• Actor’s ethnicity: Ukrainian-American
• Role he portrayed: Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara

John Gielgud: “Lost Horizon” (1973)

• Actor’s ethnicity: English
• Role he portrayed: Tibetan lama Chang

Max von Sydow: “Flash Gordon” (1980)

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

• Actor’s ethnicity: Swedish
• Role he portrayed: Emperor Ming the Merciless

Joel Grey: “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins” (1985)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: Chiun, master of the fictitious Korean martial art Sinanju

Alfred Molina: “Not Without My Daughter” (1991)

• Actor’s ethnicity: British
• Role he portrayed: Iranian doctor Sayyed Bozorg “Moody” Mahmoody

Al Pacino: “Carlito’s Way” (1993)

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

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• Actor’s ethnicity: Italian-American
• Role he portrayed: Puerto Rican criminal Carlito Brigante

Meryl Streep: “The House of the Spirits” (1993)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role she portrayed: Chilean psychic matriarch Clara del Valle Trueba

Glenn Close: “The House of the Spirits” (1993)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role she portrayed: Chilean patriarch Esteban Trueba’s sister Férula Trueba

Jeremy Irons: “The House of the Spirits” (1993)

• Actor’s ethnicity: English
• Role he portrayed: Chilean right-wing family patriarch Esteban Trueba

Winona Ryder: “The House of the Spirits” (1993)

Source: Courtesy of Miramax

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role she portrayed: Clara del Valle’s Chilean daughter Blanca Trueba

Madonna: “Evita” (1996)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role she portrayed: Argentinian first lady Eva Perón

Anthony Hopkins: “The Mask of Zorro” (1998)

• Actor’s ethnicity: Welsh
• Role he portrayed: Spanish-born Californian Don Diego de la Vega (Zorro)

Jake Gyllenhaal: “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” (2010)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: Prince Dastan of Persia

Antonio Banderas: “Black Gold” (2011)

Source: Carlos Alvarez / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

• Actor’s ethnicity: Spanish
• Role he portrayed: Arabian emir Nesib

Mark Strong: “Black Gold” (2011)

• Actor’s ethnicity: British
• Role he portrayed: Arabian sultan Amar

Johnny Depp: “The Lone Ranger” (2013)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role he portrayed: The Lone Ranger’s Comanche companion, Tonto

Emma Stone: “Aloha” (2015)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role she portrayed: Hawaiian-Chinese-Swedish U.S. Air Force officer Allison Ng

Rooney Mara: “Pan” (2015)

• Actor’s ethnicity: American
• Role she portrayed: Native American princess Tiger Lily