Are Casting Directors the Most Dimwitted Members of the Movie Community?

The same kind of dimwits cast a Caucasian to play Charlie Chan. The same people who until Antonio Banderas got the role, kept casting non spanish actors such as Guy Williams and Alain Delon for the role of Zorro.

And my all time favorite, casting David Carradine to play a chinese in Kung Fu, when someone like Bruce Lee deserved it more than anyone else in the entire planet.


Yeah unfortunately examples such as these prove that casting agents, producers, and studio executives are not artists, rather business men simply concerned for their pockets.

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It is possible that someone who looks like Natalie Wood could be Puerto Rican. Its an ethnicity, not a race. There are blonde and blue eyed Mexicans. The OP seems to be as myopic as the casting directors he complains about.

Those responsible for casting occasionally mess up, but most of them are quite talented. Casting is difficult, and it's a real art.

By the way, there are no casting directors. The Directors Guild made sure of that. That's why in the credits you always see just "Casting . . . name" or "Casting by . . . name"

Not so fast! You don't have to be an ethnic Puerto Rican to play one. These people are ACTORS ... and with the right makeup and dialogue, they could play any part of any nationality or ethnicity. That's what ACTING is all about.

Italian Anna Maria Alberghetti played a POLISH WOMAN in "The Stars are Singing" (1953) and did a damned good job of it.

American Meryl Streep played a variety of foreign women (including a POLISH one in two films ("Sophie's Choice" and "Schindler's List") ... and did a damned fine job! She earned a couple of OSCARS, if memory serves.

Brit Jude Law played A RUSSIAN in "Enemy at the Gates" and was very believable ... and he also played a RUSSIAN in "Anna Karenina" .. along with British Keira Knightly playing the title role.

The late, great Robin Williams played a RUSSIAN in "Moscow on the Hudson" .... with the proper accent and even his Russian lines sounded authentic.

Sophia Loren played a SPANISH woman in "El Cid" and "Man from La Mancha" ..

Acting is basically pretending to be someone else. The idea that you need to be 'like' what you are pretending to be is only important insofar as it makes it easier for less talented actors to make the transition. That is what good casting is about- simplifying the whole process.

To overlay that with some kind of idea that particular looking people 'own' certain characterisations is demented.

If a woman is good enough an actor to play a man: good for her.

If a thin person can credibly play a fat person: good for them.

If a black guy can play Hamlet convincingly: good for him.

And so on.

And for what its worth, 'race' is a fiction. We are all humans.

And also while I'm here, the idea that movie making should have some kind of affirmative action for casting, posited on a noticeboard for a film that 'made work' for dozens of actors past their prime, is ironic in a dimwitted sort of way.