There’s recently been controversy about Queen Cleopatra being played by a black actress. This has been derided as being historically inaccurate and so much so, that some Egyptian lawyers have filed a case against Netflix due to this issue.
▬Contents of this video▬ 00:00 - Intro 00:29 - Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi 01:52 - John Wayne as Genghis Khan 03:10 - Charlton Heston as Ramon Miguel Vargas 04:51 - Anita Ekberg as Wei Ling 05:56 - Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra 07:40 - Outro
But Hollywood has had a long history of casting actors who, let’s just say, didn’t naturally look the part. In fact, there are many old Hollywood casting choices that wouldn’t be allowed today.
For example, what was the name of that Japanese actor who played the ridiculous character Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast At Tiffany’s? Well, it wasn’t a Japanese actor but rather Mickey Rooney playing an absurdly stereotypical role.
John Wayne is highly remembered as one of the greatest actors to play a cowboy in his various movies. But did you know that he played a Mongol conqueror really well? Actually, he played a Mongol conqueror – though we can’t say he played it well!
Charlton Heston is not someone whom you’d think of as being a cultural icon of Mexican cinema. That’s because he wasn’t – but he played a Mexican character in the crime film Touch of Evil.
Anita Ekberg was a great Swedish actress who also acted in films across the West and portrayed different nationalities. But let’s just say her portrayal of a Chinese woman in the film Blood Alley wasn’t her finest hour. Certainly not comparable to the fountain scene in La Dolce Vita!
In other words, there have been quite a lot of casting choices that perhaps didn’t take any concern about cultural sensitives. And this is a practice that wouldn’t be allowed today – although even today, the tables have flipped and there are still casting choices that face lots of criticism. Today, we’re happy to give you the story of some of these casting choices.
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Old Hollywood Casting Choices That Wouldn’t Be Allowed Today
By: Facts Verse Title: Old Hollywood Casting Choices That Wouldn’t Be Allowed Today Sourced From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXcMVTlXdyA
