10 Actors Who Played Characters Of A Different Race Or Ethnicity
In recent years, Hollywood movies have been under more scrutiny due to racism and sexism, which can be seen in the actors who appear in front of the camera, the directors who work behind the camera, and how characters are portrayed on-screen, and often all three.
Plenty of movies are set in Asians or Africa but star white actors as leading characters or significant roles. For example, Joseph Fiennes played an African-American in the TV series “Elizabeth, Michael, and Marlon”, or French actress Juliette Binoche appeared as a Chilean with a dark brown complexion.
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#1. Emma Stone
Emma Stone plays Allison Ng, a person of Asian and Hawaiian origin, in Cameron Crowe's film Aloha.
#2. C. Thomas Howell
Source: COURTSEY EVERETT COLLECTION
In the 1986 comedy Soul Man, Howell portrayed a white student who pretended to be an African-American in order to qualify for a Harvard Law School scholarship available only to black students.
#3. Michael B. Jordan
In Josh Trank's Fantastic Four remake, Jordan portrays Johnny Storm/Human Torch, the character with blond hair and blue eyes who was described in the original comic book series.
#4. Shawn and Marlon Wayans
Source: COURTSEY EVERETT COLLECTION
The Wayans Brothers starred as two FBI agents who go undercover as white women to crack a kidnapping case in 2004's White Chicks.
#5. Angelina Jolie
Source: COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT VANTAGE
Angelina Jolie played the title character in the movie version of Mariane Pearl's book of the same name, A Mighty Heart. Pearl, the focus of the movie, is a French woman who was born to a Dutch father and a Cuban mother.
#6. John Wayne
Source: COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION
Wayne portrayed Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan in 1956’s The Conquerer.
#7. Jake Gyllenhaal
In the Mike Newell-directed movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Gyllenhaal played a Persian character.
#8. Robert Downey Jr.
Source: COURTSEY EVERETT COLLECTION
In the comedy Tropic Thunder, directed by Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. played an actor who put on "blackface" to play a fictional black character.
#9. Elizabeth Taylor
Source: COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION
The Oscar-winning actress took on the role of Egyptian queen Cleopatra in 1963’s Cleopatra.
#10. Laurence Olivier
Source: COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION
In Othello, Laurence Olivier starred as an Englishman with black skin which is not the actor’s natural skin tone.
Who else do you think we skipped? Let us know in the comments.