Green-eyed freckled Swede as Dinah?

I know!!! Like there's a shortage of beautiful properly colored skinned actresses!! I HATE it when they do this in Biblical stories. Not that I believe in God, but watching blondes in these Jewish roles makes the story of the movie seem unbelievable and thus hard to want to care about her (or the character.) I didn't even bother with the "Last Temptation of Christ" because of this exact issue. Do the producers think white people need characters that look like them to enjoy a movie taking place in Israel in order to enjoy a movie or mini-series?!? So Very Tired of This!!

But thrilled to see my Firefly girl!!

That kind of thing frustrates me too. There are so many non-white actors and actress waiting for their big break, fuming in the sidelines while big-name white actors get miscast in roles that should have been theirs.

But I will say that, having spent time in the Middle East to visit relatives, lighter-skinned people are not unheard of there. My dad's side of the family is pretty dark, but my mom's side is fairer. I have several aunts, uncles, and cousins who you wouldn't guess were Arab by looking at them. So we don't all look the same.

As far as whitewashed casting goes, I was rather impressed with the diversity of the cast for this miniseries. Agni Scott, Saif Al-Warith, Vinette Robinson, and Morena Baccarin did kind of compensate for the whiter actors present.

Hello? Cobra Bubbles? Aliens are attacking my house.

You sound like a racist. Totally obsessed with race. So no period drama's about Western history should feature ethnic actors.

It seems you have a deep rooted dislike of white people.

Even worse than depriving actors with Mediterranean features jobs, that those with darker, thicker skin, darker, thicker hair, and less delicate features are cast as the "bad guys" (Dina's conspiring, murdering brothers)reinforces every negative Western cultural stereotypes about those of Middle Eastern descent.

I would LOVE to see that table flipped more often! There aren't nearly enough films or tales like "Snow White & the Huntsman," with blonds as villains.

P.S. I AM a pale blue-eyed blonde.

The replies above and below mine have presented some valid and debatable points.

I have known a great many Sabra with blue eyes - some green. Some of my Sabra friends have had red or auburn hair to go with those light eyes. I have known German, Russian, Lithuanian Jews with blond hair and many different eye colors.

Wouldn't casting ONLY actors with the coloring of current Middle Eastern people be racist?

The equatorial regions of Africa - Middle East - Asian 5,000 years ago may have been predominantly dark skinned, dark haired, dark eyed... but they were not alone. Trading routes, centers of education, incredible natural resources made this area a melting pot for thousands of years. Many of the "slaves" living in North Africa at this time were Celts. It is documented. Yet nearly every "slave" portrayed in this piece appears to be black.

This is a story from my Bible (Judeo-Christian). This is a story of women told with great love and compassion. This is a story of love, loyalty, forgiveness, loss, acceptance, and strength. This is a story we've been told since childhood - brought to life.

Let's focus on that.

Yes, in a TV production of the fictionalized account of a minor biblical character where actors from Israel, Spain, Greece, England, America, Sweden and Morocco portraying Hebrews, Canaanites, Moabites, and Egyptians all speak in perfect English prose with English accents, the most jarring circumstance is the lack of actors from ethnically and geographically accurate origins. Shocking!

Really?

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What? Are there no blonds in the Middle-East? I have two nephews and one nice, siblings between them, and their skin/hair coloring/texture is as different as you can imagine. And yes, they are from the same mother and the same father. One is fair skinned with straight brown hair, other is olive/dark skinned with black super curly hair and the last one is blonde. Is not that difficult that this can happen within one family, why is soon damn difficult to understand that it can happen too among the population of a whole country.

Every movie must have it's share of complaints about the race of the actors nowadays. It's a MOVIE people! It's supposed to cast well known, charismatic actors in order to attract viewers. What if the guy who plays Jacob is blond or if Dinah is actually (God forbid!) Swedish?

As for the movie itself, I thought Rebecca Ferguson's acting was superb, I couldn't care less about her freckles.