25 Minority Characters That Hollywood Whitewashed

Wait, Jake Gyllenhaal isn't Persian?!

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Even if you've never heard of Hollywood whitewashing, chances are you've seen it anyway. It's a kind of casting where film studios have placed white actors in lead roles under the assumption that the majority of Americans would rather see a white face than a non-white one—despite what the role calls for. And while Hollywood may not resort to putting actors in blackface anymore, the practice of just bending the race of a character is not an uncommon one. Hence, Jake Gyllenhaal playing a Persian.

The major problem with racebending and whitewashing—aside from, you know, it being deeply offensive—is that it takes roles from actors who actually are of that ethnicity/race. In turn, they get stuck with minor roles that only serve to supplement the story of the white lead, or with stereotyped roles. For instance: If you're Middle Eastern, you'll be cast as a terrorist. 

To demonstrate what a common practice this is, we look at 25 minority characters in major films that were portrayed by Caucasian actors, whether in make-up or not.  

Written by Tanya Ghahremani (@tanyaghahremani)

RELATED: A Brief History of White People Rapping in Movies
RELATED: The 25 Best Black Sitcoms of All Time
RELATED: 10 Black Filmmakers Who Deserve More Respect

Wang and O-Lan in The Good Earth (1937)

Not Available Interstitial

Jade Tan in Dragon Seed (1944)

Not Available Interstitial

Massai in Apache (1954)

Not Available Interstitial

Genghis Khan in The Conqueror (1956)

Not Available Interstitial

Sakini in The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)

Not Available Interstitial

Miguel Vargas in A Touch of Evil (1958)

Not Available Interstitial

Ira Hamilton Hayes in The Outsider (1961)

Not Available Interstitial

I.Y. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Not Available Interstitial

Maria in West Side Story (1961)

Not Available Interstitial

Cleopatra in Cleopatra (1963)

Not Available Interstitial

Othello in Othello (1965)

Not Available Interstitial

Hrundi V. Bakshi in The Party (1968)

Not Available Interstitial

Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Not Available Interstitial

Brandi Boski in Stuck (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

Eben Oleson in 30 Days of Night (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart (2007)

Not Available Interstitial

Ben Campell in 21 (2008)

Not Available Interstitial

Goku in Dragonball: Evolution (2009)

Not Available Interstitial

Dastan in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

Katara and Sokka in The Last Airbender (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

Irene in Drive (2011)

Not Available Interstitial

Hae-Joo Chang in Cloud Atlas (2012)

Not Available Interstitial

Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games (2012)

Not Available Interstitial

Tony Mendez in Argo (2012)

Not Available Interstitial

Nora in Warm Bodies (2013)

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Pop Culture