Lynn Sue Moon

Yes, it was of course common to cast actors of one race in roles of characters of another. In Hollywood, this meant many white actors cast as "Orientals", particularly during the war, but even after, at least in leads. Leading Indian roles always went to white actors, and so on.

One rule was that a non-white male character could not romance a white female one, unless the former was played by a white man in ethnic disguise. That was considered proto-rape, or evil lust. On the other hand, a white man playing a white character could romance a non-white girl played by a non-white woman. That was considered exotic sex.

In Britain especially, LSM probably had even fewer acting opportunities, and those pretty limited, so it's little wonder she disappeared, for whatever reasons.

Of course, and again especially during the war, the studios would use Chinese or Koreans to play Japanese (in short supply due to their being in internment camps), and the practice of using actors who looked similar to other ethnic groups has continued ever since. Even Anna and the King a few years back, supposedly so "p.c." for using an Asian actor as the King, cast a Chinese, not a Thai, in the part. Does this constitute some sort of racism -- the "they all look alike to me" mind-set? Possibly, but when you think about it, is it so different from casting someone of Eastern European Jewish descent as, say, an Italian because they can "pass" as one? Or casting a Swede as a German, and so on?

Japanese and Chinese films often cast fellow-countrymen as westerners. I suppose this looks as ludicrous to us as seeing a white man cast as a Chinese looks to them. But in the end, it's acting, so perhaps we should worry less about cross-ethnic casting as such, as long as it's not done for an overtly racist purpose or in a way that suggests racism.