Color-blind casting is the practice of casting roles without regard to the actor's ethnicity or race.[1] Alternative terms and similar practices include non-traditional casting, integrated casting, or blind casting,[a] which can involve casting without consideration of skin color, body shape, sex or gender.[citation needed] A representative of the Actors' Equity Association has disputed the use of "color blind casting", preferring "non-traditional casting". Non-traditional casting "is defined as the casting of ethnic minority actors in roles where race, ethnicity, or gender is not germane".[2]
While a non-Eon-produced James Bond movie, the character of Felix Leiter was portrayed by a black person for the first time, played by Bernie Casey. The idea was to make the role more memorable.[7]
During the creation of the television series, none of the characters was assigned a race. Color-blind casting was used to choose the best actors for the roles, resulting in an ethnically diverse cast.[16]
Black British actor David Harewood was cast as Friar Tuck, a character traditionally portrayed as white, overweight, and balding, in "Total Eclipse", the first episode of the third series.[17]
Several actors of colour appeared as extras or in more minor roles throughout the series, with Angel Coulby and Tomiwa Edun in recurring roles as Guinevere and Elyan respectively.[18]
Based on the 1980s series of the same name where both of the lead families are white. In this reboot, the Colby family is portrayed by African-American actors.[25]
Based on the characters and setting of the long-running Archie Comics series, several characters traditionally depicted as white in the comics are portrayed by non-white actors in the series. Most notably, Archie Andrews (the series' lead) is portrayed by KJ Apa, who is of mixed Samoan descent. Veronica Lodge is portrayed by Camila Mendes, who is of Brazilian descent as well as the entire Lodge family has been depicted as being of Latin-American descent in the series.[26]Reggie Mantle is portrayed by Asian-American actors Ross Butler in season 1, and Charles Melton from season 2 onwards, Pop Tate is portrayed by black actor Alvin Sanders and Josie and the Pussycats, a band originally consisting of one black member and two white members in the comics, are converted into an all-black group: Josie and Melody, both previously white, are portrayed by Ashleigh Murray and Hayley Law, respectively.[27]
The role of the bounty hunter Valkyrie, based on the Marvel Comics character commonly depicted as white, is played by biracial actress Tessa Thompson.[33] The role of the Asgardian sentry Heimdall, based on the Marvel Comics character depicted as white (also described in the Scandinavian mythology as "the whitest skinned of all the gods"), was played by Black British actor Idris Elba.[34]
African-American actor K. Todd Freeman portrayed the character Mr. Poe, who was portrayed by white English actor Timothy Spall in the 2004 film.[35] Indian actor Aasif Mandvi portrayed the character Monty Montgomery who was portrayed by Irish-Scottish actor Billy Connolly in the film. African-American actor Alfre Woodard portrayed the character Aunt Josephine, who was portrayed by white American actress Meryl Streep in the film.[36]
The character Domino, depicted in the comics as an albino white woman with a dark patch of skin in a diamond surrounding her left eye, is portrayed by African-American/German actress Zazie Beetz;[39][40] the anomalous skin patch was instead lighter than the rest of her complexion. The film also features Māori actor Julian Dennison as Rusty Collins / Firefist, a white Oklahoma native in the comics,[41] and biracial actor Lewis Tan (of partial Chinese descent) as Shatterstar, an extraterrestrial who in the comics has the appearance of a white human.[42]
Senegalese actress Anna Diop plays the superhero Starfire (Princess Koriand'r). An alien who is drawn in comics with orange or golden skin, Starfire has been previously portrayed by white performers and drawn in animated series with light tan skin, though originally being black-coded.[44][45] Similarly, the character of Beast Boy is played by Ryan Potter, who is of Japanese descent. This marks the first time in history where a live action superhero team lineup is 50% people of color (the other 50% being Dick Grayson and Rachel Roth, who are portrayed by white Australian actors Brenton Thwaites and Teagan Croft, respectively).
British-Nigerian actor David Oyelowo plays inspector Javert, who was described as the son of a French man and a Gypsy woman in the original Victor Hugo novel.[48]
Yennefer is played by half-Indian actress Anya Chalotra, who was a white brunette in the original, similarly done with Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu). White character Fringilla Vigo is played by black actress Mimi Ndiweni; Istredd (Royce Pierreson) and Triss Merigold (Anna Shaffer) are also white in books, yet are played by actors of color. The Zerrikanians Tèa and Vèa, who are blonde in the books and based on Scythian warrior women and Greek stories about Amazons, are also played by black actresses.[52][53]
Elle Fanning who stars as Catherine the Great in the series spoke of using color-blind casting from the beginning to make "people from now to be able to relate to the show" and "have everyone represented".[61]Sacha Dhawan, a British-Indian actor, plays Count Orlo, and Abraham Popoola plays Rostov.[62]
The show, crested by Shonda Rhimes, employs many actors of color in positions of nobility that historically would have been white, most notably Golda Rosheuvel as the queen, Regé-Jean Page as the Duke of Hastings, and Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury.[63]
The live-action TV series based on the original 1997 Japanese anime has Mustafa Shakir portraying the character of Jet Black, who is presumed white, and Daniella Pineda, a Mexican-American actor as Faye Valentine, who is Singaporean in the anime.[71]
A film based on the first two games of the Japanese video game series Resident Evil, biracial actor Avan Jogia portrays the characters Leon Kennedy, who is white in the video game series and was portrayed by white actor Johann Urb, in the original film series. Biracial actor Hannah John-Kamen portrays Jill Valentine, who is white in the video game series.[72][73]
Black singer/actress Halle Bailey portrays Ariel, originally described as white in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" and in the 1989 Disney adaptation. Rob Marshall, the director, said she was cast because "she possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role".[82]
A 2023 UK tour had black actress Bree Smith playing Alice Beane (based on Ethel Beane).[86] One reviewer praised Smith's performance but felt it an "odd choice made by the casting team...I couldn't help but initially think that in an authentic setting, a black woman would not be fangirling over people who most likely wouldn't treat her very well. The choice doesn't hurt (but) it can pull you out of the experience if you think too long about the era's politics that wouldn't have stopped [at] the gangplank."[87][b] A 2024 Off-Broadway concert as part of the Encores! series, will have Chuck Cooper portray Captain E. J. Smith and Iranian Ramin Karimloo as Frederick Barrett.[88]
In the fantasy remake of the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon, Nico Parker, a half-Zimbabwean actress, portrays the Viking Astrid Hofferson, who is of white descent.[91]
The Non-Traditional Casting Project
The Non-Traditional Casting Project was founded in 1986 to examine problems of racial discrimination in theatre, film and television.[92] The Actors' Equity Association is a co-founder.[93]
Debate and "color-consciousness"
In the theatre community, there is significant debate over the concept of color-blind casting vs "color-conscious casting".
In 1996, Pulitzer-winning playwright August Wilson, who is black, used his Princeton University address on black culture in the United States "The Ground on Which I Stand" to attack the notion of color-blind casting.[94]
"Colorblind casting is an aberrant idea that has never had any validity other than as a tool of Cultural Imperialists who view American culture, rooted in the icons of European culture, as beyond reproach in its perfection ... We do not need colorblind casting; we need theatres." – August Wilson
In 2017, Associate Editor of American Theatre magazine Diep Tran declared "color-conscious" to be a preferable term. "Color-conscious means we're aware of the historic discrimination in the entertainment industry ... and we're also aware of what it means to put a body of color onstage.".[95] The idea promotes intentionality and race-conscious affirmative action to avoid racially homogeneous casts, and has been supported widely across the theatre community.[96][97]
In 2018, the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law published the article "There's No Business Like Show Business: Abandoning Color-Blind Casting and Embracing Color-Conscious Casting in American Theatre". The article discussed the implications for US employment law and mooted that color-blind casting has not produced its intended result. "Race is still a determining factor in American society, and it is counterintuitive to argue that problems related to race can be fixed by ignoring race altogether".[98] The Broad Online calls a color-blind casting "a superficial solution to a deeper problem."[99]
Popular shows that employ color-conscious casting include: Hamilton: An American Musical, the BBC's Les Misérables, and the film Mary Queen of Scots (in which the black actor Adrian Lester plays a 16th-century ambassador). In 2017, director Michael Streeter made a color-conscious casting decision for his production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, believing "the decision would add depth to the play".[95]Edward Albee's estate denied permission for the production, stating the casting "would fundamentally change the meaning and message of the play".[100]
^Ayanna Thompson, "Practicing a Theory/Theorizing a Practice: An Introduction to Shakespearean Colorblind Casting", in Ayanna Thompson, ed., Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance (Routledge, 2006), 1-24, p. 5.
^Onstad, Katrina (10 February 2008). "Horror Auteur Is Unfinished With the Undead". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023. Because he gave the best audition, a black actor, Duane Jones, was cast as the heroic lead, a role never intended for an African-American.
^Wilson, August (21 June 2016). "The Ground on Which I Stand". AmericanTheatre.org. American Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.