MovieChat Forums > The Kite Runner (2008) Discussion > Dark-haired Assef....

Dark-haired Assef....

posted 13 years ago by mariekebrock
9 replies | jump to latest

I am the only one of my friends who thinks this, so I thought I'll throw it out here and see what the response was

The Assef in the movie had dark hair and dark eyes right? Well, in the book he has blonde hair and blue eyes, so I guess he looks more like his German mother than his Afghan father. I always found this extremely terrifying. When I read the book I imagined a big, blonde and almost angelic kid, who was horrible. A sociopath. For some reason do I find blonde people much more impressive in ''darker'' characters than brownhaired actors. Just to put it straight, I am dark-blonde myself and I have grey eyes.

I got actually quite dissapointed when I saw that the Assef in the movie was both dark in eye and hair color. For me it would have been so much more terrifying if he had taken off his sunglasses and turban right before the fight and light blonde curls would have fallen on his shoulders. The effect would have been scarier.

Does anyone agree? And does anyone know why they went for an Afghan looking actor?

[–] hamben13 13 years ago

I agree, I haven't seen the film but I studied the book in Year 12 - I don't know why they chose him for the role of Assef (and it was his first film too). Unlike most of the cast, he looks totally different to how I imagined him.
I kinda imagined someone like Denis Leary (or Sean Bean) in the role looks-wise.

[–] onuvac 12 years ago

Probably it was hard to find actors who have blonde hair and blue eyes in Afghanistan. The only place for people with that look in the Middle East is Lebanon.

[–] afsana_bahar 11 years ago

Probably it was hard to find actors who have blonde hair and blue eyes in Afghanistan. The only place for people with that look in the Middle East is Lebanon.

That's actually not true. I'm an Afghan, and believe it or not, natural blonde hair and blue eyes as well as other light features are not that uncommon among Afghans, especially in the region of Nuristan. Afghans are pretty diverse in terms of physical appearance, and can look like many different ethnicities. There are Afghans who look Persian, South Asian, East Asian, and sometimes even somewhat Nordic (mainly the Nuristani Afghans who look like this).

ETA: I do agree that most Afghans are brown/olive skinned though. I was just also pointing out that the ones with lighter features are not impossible to find either.

[–] onuvac 11 years ago

To tell the truth I realized that later in the last minute but forgot to mention it when I remembered. Lol my bad.

[–] afsana_bahar 11 years ago

No problem, it's a pretty common misconception lol. :)

[–] onuvac 11 years ago

Yup lol

[–] wyldeone2 9 years ago

Thanks for the enlightenment of natural physical characteristics of native Afghans, regional or not. I would not have guessed it even though I have seen natural blonde and blue eyed Spanish and black haired and blue eyed Irish people
while visiting their countries as a tourist. I have seen the movie a few days ago for the 1st time and never read the book so the Assef character's appearance change was not something I noticed.

I can't speak for the film makers, but do know that there are millions of romance novels where the male hero and object of the woman's affection usually has blonde hair and blue eyes. And because there are many WWII films where the main SS guy has blonde hair and blue eyes as well.

Maybe the film makers did not want parallels drawn to Hallmark movies of the week or the Nazis. I am sure there would been a lot of negative chatter about it if Assef had blond hair and blue eyes. He may have gotten more sympathy for his book looks as well.

_____

Just try to stay alive and see what the next minute brings.

[–] magnetic_storm11 11 years ago

totally surprised me too when I read the book. You spoke what was on my mind when I recognized this.

[–] yrnej 7 years ago

It really bothered me too. Somehow Assef was even more of a monster because of his unusual appearance. As far as not being able to find an Afghan with blonde hair and blue eyes, there is makeup, wigs and contacts, so I don't accept that as a reason.

See my published polls here: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls063373675