Why Is a White Actor Playing 'Prince of Persia' Title Role?

[John Picard]

In other words, you have no decent response to Hollywood using a lily-white actor as a Persian lead

What response are you looking for?

Obviously, studios and producers are more comfortable with no-names in the lead when dealing with known commodities like Twilight, but less so with unknown commodities like Prince of Persia. If I was sinking millions into a video game movie, I would damn well want a recognizable "name" in the lead, and none of the Persian/Iranian actors I've heard mentioned in this thread fit the bill.

So, how big of a name was Mila Javovitch before she was cast in Resident Evil?

Hollywood studios are always looking to reduce their financial risk, and hiring a well known actor is commonly accepted as a way to reduce that risk. I can't believe this is somehow a controversial concept around here.

Hmmm, yet the ones everyone else mentioned were all very successful with unknowns (Harry Potter, Twilight, X-Men) and I am one of many who didn't know much about Chris Pine, yet Star Trek 2009 was a box office smash.

Seriously, you're grasping and making excuses. Let me guess -- you would have no problem with Robert Downy Jr cast as the lead in an autobiography about George Washington Carver, right? After all, he's a big name and that shouldn't present a problem.

 

[bryce]

The guy who plays/played Sayid from Lost would be too dark-skinned I guess...?

But I think he could pull of a lead as an action hero in a big name movie - and would have some....well, I'll say "face recognition", since most people probably don't know his name (even me)...and a lot of women find him pretty sexy, I am told...

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Because someone, for studio politic reasons, wants this movie to fail so they hired Gyllenhaal, because he looks so dopey as a serious ACTION lead that the movie is guaranteed to fail?

(I made that up. Except for the dopey part)

 

[Level 2 Diagnostic]

So, how big of a name was Mila Javovitch before she was cast in Resident Evil?

How does this invalidate my assertion that "hiring a well known actor is commonly accepted as a way to reduce [financial] risk"?

You can pull out exceptions to the rule all day long, it doesn't change the common perception in Hollywood.

Hmmm, yet the ones everyone else mentioned were all very successful with unknowns (Harry Potter, Twilight, X-Men) and I am one of many who didn't know much about Chris Pine, yet Star Trek 2009 was a box office smash.

As I said above, Prince of Persia doesn't nearly have the built-in fanbase of Star Trek, Twilight, Harry Potter, or X-Men. You'd have to be kind of dense not to understand why putting an unknown in Star Trek is perceived as less risky than putting an unknown in a Prince of Persia movie.

Let me guess -- you would have no problem with Robert Downy Jr cast as the lead in an autobiography about George Washington Carver, right? After all, he's a big name and that shouldn't present a problem.

Hmm, equating a revered figure in black history with a video game character. You're not trolling at all.

 

[Greg Cox]

Seriously, you're grasping and making excuses. Let me guess -- you would have no problem with Robert Downy Jr cast as the lead in an autobiography about George Washington Carver, right? After all, he's a big name and that shouldn't present a problem.

An autobiography of George Washington Carver is different from a fairy tale Arabian Nights adventure. Casting Downy as Carver would be silly.

But as Sinbad the Sailor? Sure.

 

[John Picard]

Seriously, you're grasping and making excuses. Let me guess -- you would have no problem with Robert Downy Jr cast as the lead in an autobiography about George Washington Carver, right? After all, he's a big name and that shouldn't present a problem.

An autobiography of George Washington Carver is different from a fairy tale Arabian Nights adventure. Casting Downy as Carver would be silly.

But as Sindbad the Sailor? Sure.

A white Sinbad? Are you serious?

 

[Greg Cox]

Seriously, you're grasping and making excuses. Let me guess -- you would have no problem with Robert Downy Jr cast as the lead in an autobiography about George Washington Carver, right? After all, he's a big name and that shouldn't present a problem.

An autobiography of George Washington Carver is different from a fairy tale Arabian Nights adventure. Casting Downy as Carver would be silly.

But as Sindbad the Sailor? Sure.

A white Sinbad? Are you serious?

You're right. That would never work . . . .

 

[Nerys Myk]

Not sure casting Jake Gyllenhaal as a fictional Persian is the same as casting RDJ as a real African American.

 

[Forbin]

If an actor can pretend to be somebody else from a different place and a different time, why can't he also pretend to be somebody else of a different ethnic group?

Every time one of these arguments comes up, I'm reminded of the fuss over Jonathan Pryce starring in Miss Saigon. Protest groups railed against a white actor playing a half-white/half Asian character, to the point of getting the show closed down - putting 16 Asian actors out of work!

 

[Forbin]

Seriously, you're grasping and making excuses. Let me guess -- you would have no problem with Robert Downy Jr cast as the lead in an autobiography about George Washington Carver, right? After all, he's a big name and that shouldn't present a problem.

An autobiography of George Washington Carver is different from a fairy tale Arabian Nights adventure. Casting Downy as Carver would be silly.

But as Sindbad the Sailor? Sure.

A white Sinbad? Are you serious?

Patrick Wayne or Kerwin Mathews would work....
Well, maybe not Patrick Wayne...

 

[Aragorn]

Have John Picard and darkwing_duck1 met yet?

 

[John Picard]

If an actor can pretend to be somebody else from a different place and a different time, why can't he also pretend to be somebody else of a different ethnic group?

Every time one of these arguments comes up, I'm reminded of the fuss over Jonathan Pryce starring in Miss Saigon. Protest groups railed against a white actor playing a half-white/half Asian character, to the point of getting the show closed down - putting 16 Asian actors out of work!

Please go upthread and refer to the comments about John Wayne playing Genghis Kahn.

 

[Ubik]

If an actor can pretend to be somebody else from a different place and a different time, why can't he also pretend to be somebody else of a different ethnic group?

Great. So, by that logic, a vaguely brown actor should be able to play Green Lantern. Why is it a white actor? A darker actor should be able to play Spiderman. Why are they only considering white actors? The next Doctor Who could be brown. Right? Why not?

Hollywood often casts white people to play characters who aren't white. (Why, for example, is some white guy playing Jesus, in a movie that prides itself so much on historical accuracy that it brings back 2 dead languages?) But it never does the opposite. Or, almost never. Catwoman is the only exception I can think of right now. But that was only because Halle Berry was a huge star at the time. They would NEVER cast a darker actor to play a typically white character, unless it was a star. But they have no problem doing the opposite, casting a no-name white guy to play a supposedly darker character. White is safer. That's how producers think. A white character brings in all coloured audiences. A brown actor only brings in brown audiences. That's how they think.

It's a double standard. One can argue that they want to "diminish the financial risk", but that's only buying into the systematically racist ideology. Why is it a financial risk? Why AREN'T there more Iranian stars? Or Mexican stars? Or Asian stars, who aren't martial artists? Because Hollywood producers don't think non-white people can bring in the bucks. There are plenty of sound financial reasons to NOT change things, and to keep a racist status quo. I mean it - they ARE good sound financial reasons. But things will never change until there are more black or Iranian or Mexican producers and writers, who will ensure that people within those ethnicities get the jobs and roles and parts they deserve. For now, all Iranians, not to mention all muscular Iranian actors, have absolutely every right to be ticked off about the casting of this movie.

 

[Amaris]

When I first heard that Jake had won the role, I figured someone would post this very question.
It doesn't bother me at all. If the first thing you look at is skin color, that falls on you, not anyone else, and certainly not the actor.

 

[Greg Cox]

If an actor can pretend to be somebody else from a different place and a different time, why can't he also pretend to be somebody else of a different ethnic group?

Great. So, by that logic, a vaguely brown actor should be able to play Green Lantern. Why is it a white actor? A darker actor should be able to play Spiderman. Why are they only considering white actors? The next Doctor Who could be brown. Right? Why not?.

Why not indeed? And things are tending that way.

Besides Halle Berry, consider:

Eartha Kitt as Catwoman.
Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
That one actor as Pete Ross
Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin
Will Smith in I AM LEGEND (in a part previously played by Vincent Price and Charlton Heston!)
That actress who played Alicia Masters in the FF films
Idris Elba as Heimdall in THOR.


Things are opening up. Obviously, it's easier to green-light non-traditional casting when a big star is involved, but we're talking Hollywood here. Everything is easier when a star is attached . . . .

 

[Nerys Myk]

If an actor can pretend to be somebody else from a different place and a different time, why can't he also pretend to be somebody else of a different ethnic group?

Every time one of these arguments comes up, I'm reminded of the fuss over Jonathan Pryce starring in Miss Saigon. Protest groups railed against a white actor playing a half-white/half Asian character, to the point of getting the show closed down - putting 16 Asian actors out of work!

Please go upthread and refer to the comments about John Wayne playing Genghis Kahn.

Hardly comparable. Again Prince of Persia: fictional. Genghis Khan: historical. From a Ethno-genetic standpoint, Jake Gyllenhaal is probably closer to being Persian than John Wayne is to being a Mongol. Gyllenhaal being cast as the Prince of Persia is about as "outrageous" as Chow Yun Fat being cast as the King of Siam.

 

[Too Much Fun]

The fact that the movie has come out and one of its first plot points is that Gyllenhaal's character was adopted should put this controversy to rest.

As someone who grew up playing classic video games (and computer games), I've been eagerly awaiting the first universally respectable (not just on a B-movie level, like "Mortal Kombat") movie adaptation of a video game. I've been waiting since 1993 ("Super Mario Bros." )for the movie that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that a video game can be the solid foundation for a movie. Judging by the buzz around this movie, the wait will have to continue. I know some people liked "Tomb Raider", but I thought it was just as bad as "Street Fighter" and all the other video game movie junk we've got so far. "Mortal Kombat" was the closest to a triumph, but it's really just a passable kung fu movie enhanced by how authentically some of its production design and costumes ape the game. Far from a huge achievement.

I never played any version of "Prince of Persia" besides the originals, which came out so long ago (I don't know the year), I was still using DOS to play them. Those games had some crazy shit in them, like the prince drinking weird potions that allowed him to float through the air (inexplicably), having sword fights with skeletons, and falling into spikes that rose up through holes in the ground.

It saddens me how now that there's a movie adaptation, it just looks like your generic summer blockbuster with a guy with long hair and abs playing your typical beefed up hero. But then I'm not familiar with the game in this franchise that the movie is based on. I just think it would have been cool if they had based it on the games with the original pipsqueak Prince of Persia in these wacky dungeons full of creepy supernatural shit. It would have been trippy and probably a lot more fun than what we got instead.

 

[C.E. Evans]

You know what I'm sick of? All these human actors playing alien characters. Damn it, they should cast real aliens in these roles!


Hollywood is specieist...

 

[Too Much Fun]

That reminds me, I thought one of the funniest posts I ever read on IMDB was someone saying, "I'm offended that in 'The Dark Knight', they put Heath Ledger in clownface instead of getting a real clown to play The Joker".

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Why not indeed? And things are tending that way.

Besides Halle Berry, consider:

Eartha Kitt as Catwoman.
Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
That one actor as Pete Ross
Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin
Will Smith in I AM LEGEND (in a part previously played by Vincent Price and Charlton Heston!)
That actress who played Alicia Masters in the FF films
Idris Elba as Heimdall in THOR.

And Dean Cain as Superman.