Race and Casting
A couple of nights ago, I was watching one the episodes of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes–”The Three Gables,” to be exact–and was suddenly caught completely off guard: one of the minor characters of the story was being played by a black man. It didn’t matter to the story any, but I’ll admit that the casting did make it a little bit difficult to imagine his character interacting with Holmes and Watson the way he does in the story, seeing as how the setting was Edwardian London. But that just made me think–when do I expect race-sensitive casting, and when don’t I? And does it matter either way?
I don’t have any well-worked out theory regarding race and casting for theater, film or television, but I find the topic an interesting one nonetheless. The first time I can remember this sort of thing really striking me was when I saw Kenneth Branaugh’s Much Ado About Nothing, with Denzel Washington as Don Pedro. Again, his performance didn’t disturb me at all–it was excellent, in fact, and I suppose that playing him as a character from formerly Moorish Spain allowed for a little literary license in regards to race as well. But it still sticks out in my mind. Anyone care to contribute other examples of race-blind casting that worked well? Or that didn’t? And for that matter, any thoughts on how to justify doing so in the first place?
If you haven’t any thoughts yourself, you might want to check out this thread (aptly titled “What’s that black Viking doing there?”) over at Crooked Timber, with links to discussions of this very subject by a number of professional Hollywood screenwriters; the post nicely summarizes some of the basic concerns and interests that come up when race raises its head in casting decisions (among them are: “the desire to keep Jesse Jackson and Brent Bozell off of your lawn,” “the desire to attract a minority audience,” and “the desire to represent reality as closely as possible”–as in, “That’s a street gang? What is this, West Side Story?”
The Bodyguard?
Comment by Susan M — February 2, 2006 @ 3:53 pm
Russell, interesting post. First, I think you’re dealing with a limited realm of cinema, namely book adaptations. It would be difficult to do some interesting race-blind casting in a pure movie format, unless it was a franchise (next up: black Batman). In other words, you need to have pre-established expectations.
Like you, I liked Denzel in “Much Ado”. I’m trying to think of other nonconventional castings that worked well, and there aren’t many.
Comment by Supergenius — February 2, 2006 @ 3:56 pm
Well, there’s a slight possiblity for expansion when you consider roles that were offered to white actors first, but were played by a black.
The only example of this I can immediately think of is Eddie Murphy is Beverly Hills Cop. I think they wanted Sylvester Stallone?
Comment by Jennifer — February 2, 2006 @ 4:08 pm
Once I saw a production of The Magic Flute in Denver with a black Pamina. It’s interesting because it’s kind of a big deal in the libretto that Monostasos is dark-skinned. The casting worked.
Now let me destroy any kind of high culture cred I may have established: I had never watched Desperate Housewives, but I recently read all the Television Without Pity recaps and assumed everyone on Wisteria Lane was white (racism on my part? stereotypical view of suburban America? probably both?) until I saw a few minutes of an episode on Sunday and found out that the new family is black.
Comment by Heather P. — February 2, 2006 @ 4:37 pm
hmm . . . I just realized I may have revealed another deep-seated prejudice I didn’t know I had: I knew that Eva Longaria was on the show, and that she’s of Hispanic descent. And I guess the actor who plays Carlos probably is too. But I guess in my mind in a “black/white” dichotomy, Hispanic falls under “white.” hmmm.
Comment by Heather P. — February 2, 2006 @ 5:48 pm
Im always struck when it is a period piece and the characters aren’t realisticly portrayed.
Would there have been a black warden of a women’s prison in 1920’s Chicago? (Chicago) Would a white guy have been king of Siam? (The King and I) Would a woman have been able to voice 21st century social policies in the 19th century west? (Into the West) Are there really 22 year old women who look like playboy bunnies who have PhD’s in astrophysics? (any James Bond movie) Were Adam and Eve really lily-white? (any LDS art)
Just my pet peeve.
Comment by tracy m — February 2, 2006 @ 6:50 pm
Color-blind casting works best in theater; movies are often too historically detailed and trying to be authentic. However, plays turned into movies can often be cast colorfully, as you have, Much Ado works well enough.
Only projects where racial differences is a theme, should color-blind casting be inappropriate. One wouldn’t cast a white person to play Malcolm X, for instance.
But why shouldn’t Denzel play Hamlet? I say, more power to him.
P.S. Tracy, if you’re referring to Yul Brynner, he was a mix of Asian and Russian, not inappropriate to play The King of Siam in a musical fantasy.
Comment by D. Fletcher — February 2, 2006 @ 9:04 pm
I was referreing to Yul, and I had no idea what his racial mix was. I just always thought he looked so out of place.
Comment by tracy m — February 2, 2006 @ 10:21 pm
I think Supergenius is right (#2), but it’s interesting when racial casting implies certain things about the world of the movie, e.g. the rave scene in the second Matrix–mostly non-white, implying something about the type of people who can easily leave the Matrix. (But then what does it imply that there is a white Messiah?)
“Are there really 22 year old women who look like playboy bunnies who have PhD’s in astrophysics?”
Oh man I hope so. If not, I don’t know if I can go on.
Comment by Pris — February 3, 2006 @ 10:22 am
re: white Messiah in the Matrix, I don’t know about Neo per se, but Keanu is mixed race (Chinese, Polynesian and English ancestry).
Comment by Allison — February 3, 2006 @ 10:31 am
Denzel as Hamlet is great- there is no “historical” acuracy thing with that, especially in the theatre, there is a lot more latitude given in roles.
I wonder though, if a caucasian guy were, say, to be cast as Othello, would there be an outcry?
Comment by tracy m — February 3, 2006 @ 10:59 am
Othello is a Moor, presumably dark-skinned, but he has been played by most every famous classical actor in Britain, including Laurence Olivier in a famous movie.
Would they make the movie with a white guy today? Probably not, but I don’t think it’s so wrong.
Comment by D. Fletcher — February 3, 2006 @ 11:44 am
“Are there really 22 year old women who look like playboy bunnies who have PhD’s in astrophysics?â€Â
I saw Pink the other day on TRL (just surfing through, people) She has a new video out called Stupid Girls (which is actually quite funny) and in response to a caller’s criticism said
“Sexy should not come with the price tag of stupid.”
I now officially heart Pink.
Comment by Jennifer — February 3, 2006 @ 1:04 pm
There was controversy recently surrounding the fact that “Memoirs of a Geisha” was cast using primarily Chinese instead of Japanese actors.
I also seem to remember Denzel’s casting in “The Pelican Brief” raising some eyebrows because so many readers had thought the character was white.
Comment by Tim J. — February 4, 2006 @ 6:34 pm
Sometimes you can color blind cast I suppose.However not when it does not make sense.There have been instances of casting a White in a Hispanic or Asian role that smacks of arrogance.Natalie Wood in West Side Story,Richard Chmberlain in Shogun-outrageous!Jennifer Lopez is often cast as White though,and some Mexican Americans were upset that she played Selena, since Lopez is Puerto Rican.
Comment by Kenny — March 29, 2006 @ 10:32 am