Movie Characters that have changed race

omnithanos

This seems to predominantly occur in the Bond franchise. Felix Leiter was white in the official series then changed to black for the Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again and was again black in the reboot Casino Royale. Moneypenny also appeared as a black lady in the latest Bond movie and the word is that Edris Elba is being considered to take over the role as Bond.

The lesser Marvel movies have also done this with Michael Clarke Duncan playing the Kingpin in the Daredevil movie and Apollo Creed's son is now the Human Torch in the latest Fantastic Four.

In the official Marvel Universe Nick Fury is a white dude and was played by David Hasselhoff in a dire TV movie but they changed him to a Samuel L Jackson lookalike for the Ultimate Marvel comic book series and then logically used the same actor for their Marvel productions.

Any others of note and any ideas as to the logic behind this trend apart from the obvious Nick Fury one?

TherapyBoy

Ellis 'Red' Redding in The Shawshank Redemption is a white Irishman in the book.

darkdubh

Movie version of Wuthering Heights from a few years ago where they made Heathcliffe black for no obvious reason.Also there was a BBC adaptation of Oliver Twist where Nancy was played by a black actress.

Second Toughest in_the Freshers

there was Smithers, in the simpsons, went from black in the first episode to white (yellow?) then i suppose all them asian horror remakes... or “Memoirs of a Geisha" which cast Chinese actresses for Japanese.

darkdubh

Second Toughest in_the Freshers wrote: »

there was Smithers, in the simpsons, went from black in the first episode to white (yellow?) then i suppose all them asian horror remakes... or “Memoirs of a Geisha" which cast Chinese actresses for Japanese.

Not really different race.

Second Toughest in_the Freshers

Wentworth miller played a black man who passes for white in some film, when in fact

His paternal grandparents were both black, and had African-American, Jamaican, English, German, Jewish, and Cherokee ancestry. His mother is of Russian, French, Dutch, Syrian, Lebanese, and Swedish ancestry

dark crystal

Billy Dee Williams played Harvey Dent in the Burton Batman films, but was changed back to a white character for both Batman Forever and The Dark Knight (played by Tommy Lee Jones and Aaron Eckhart respectively).

SouthTippBass

Michael Jackson went from black with the Jackson 5 to white as a solo artist

He said it didn't matter though.

omnithanos

SouthTippBass wrote: »

Michael Jackson went from black with the Jackson 5 to white as a solo artist

He said it didn't matter though.

Michael has since completely transformed into a white dude called Dave Dave and is secretly living in Canada. He was dressed as a blonde lady at his own funeral.

darkdubh

Staying with historical fiction adaptations the current TV version of The Three Musketeers where one of them is black,or at least mixed race.There seems to be a consensus in Britain to make characters who are traditionaly white into black or to have period settings with a lot more black characters than there would have been in reality,maybe trying to appeal to ethnic viewers or filling some kind of quota where they have to have a certain amount of black characters in a series.

I Am Legend.

The character in the book is described as being of British-German descent with blonde hair, blue eyes, so white as white can be. Then he becomes Will Smith.

Mickeroo

darkdubh wrote: »

Staying with historical fiction adaptations the current TV version of The Three Musketeers where one of them is black,or at least mixed race.There seems to be a consensus in Britain to make characters who are traditionaly white into black or to have period settings with a lot more black characters than there would have been in reality,maybe trying to appeal to ethnic viewers or filling some kind of quota where they have to have a certain amount of black characters in a series.

It's also possible they seemed like the best actor for the role out of those that auditioned.

Sirsok

Murtagh in Lethal Weapon 5 & 6. Changed colour half way durin the film

Turtyturd

Continuing the comic theme, Kingpin was changed for the Daredevil movie due to Michael Clarke Duncan having the imposing physique for role.

pinkypinky

Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights is alluded to being mixed race, at least that's what some literary criticism thinks.

Khan in original Star Trek tv show and movie was played by Ricardo Montalbán (Mexican) and played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the latest movie.

darkdubh

Mickeroo wrote: »

It's also possible they seemed like the best actor for the role out of those that auditioned.

Maybe,but it seems more likely that theyre making a concsious casting decision in order to appear more relevant to a multicultural audience.

darkdubh

pinkypinky wrote: »

Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights is alluded to being mixed race, at least that's what some literary criticism thinks.

Khan in original Star Trek tv show and movie was played by Ricardo Montalbán (Mexican) and played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the latest movie.

Its alluded that Heathcliffe may be of gypsy extraction but theres nothing to suggest hes black,as in African/Caribbean origin.

pickarooney

darkdubh wrote: »

Staying with historical fiction adaptations the current TV version of The Three Musketeers where one of them is black,or at least mixed race.There seems to be a consensus in Britain to make characters who are traditionaly white into black or to have period settings with a lot more black characters than there would have been in reality,maybe trying to appeal to ethnic viewers or filling some kind of quota where they have to have a certain amount of black characters in a series.

The book's author was a mixed race nobleman so it's hardly that far fetched.

Yawns

Harry Potter movies. Crabbe & Goyle are 2 white bullies but by the last film, one is black and the other is white for some reason....

Cows Go µ

Yawns wrote: »

Harry Potter movies. Crabbe & Goyle are 2 white bullies but by the last film, one is black and the other is white for some reason....

I'm assuming you are referring to the skirmish in the Room of Requirement in the last movie. In the books that is Crabbe and Goyle but in the movie it's actually Goyle and another character called Blaise Zabini, who I do think is meant to be black in the books though I'm not sure where it's mentioned. This is because the actor who played Crabbe was arrested and was sentenced to community service so instead of recasting the part, they just used a different character who would also have been friends with Malfoy.

Yawns

Cows Go µ wrote: »

I'm assuming you are referring to the skirmish in the Room of Requirement in the last movie. In the books that is Crabbe and Goyle but in the movie it's actually Goyle and another character called Blaise Zabini, who I do think is meant to be black in the books though I'm not sure where it's mentioned. This is because the actor who played Crabbe was arrested and was sentenced to community service so instead of recasting the part, they just used a different character who would also have been friends with Malfoy.

Gotcha, I see what you mean from a quick google, Crabbe went and got himself arrested

So Blaise was there instead and yeah I think he was already in a previous installation as the same actor/character. Makes sense but at the time I was like wtf, have they just randomly done a reverse Michael Jackson here?

Ralf and Florian

Mickeroo wrote: »

It's also possible they seemed like the best actor for the role out of those that auditioned.

On that basis if they were holding open auditions for the lead in a movie about Martin Luther King and Daniel Day Lewis turned up they'd have some dilema.

JohnFalstaff

Ralf and Florian wrote: »

On that basis if they were holding open auditions for the lead in a movie about Martin Luther King and Daniel Day Lewis turned up they'd have some dilema.

Well Day Lewis has already played Obama on film, so he has form...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_7PCD2s6wk

ThisRegard

pinkypinky wrote: »

Heathclifif in Wuthering Heights is alluded to being mixed race, at least that's what some literary criticism thinks.

It's been over 20 years since I read the book but he's often described as being dark, such as black as a demon. This could both refer to his physical appearance and demeanour, but there's many more examples. When he was a kid he was jealous of Edgars whiteness. So there's good enough reason for him being a black character.

Cookie_Monster

pinkypinky wrote: »

Khan in original Star Trek tv show and movie was played by Ricardo Montalbán (Mexican) and played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the latest movie.

different timeline / universe, doesn't count

Dirty Dingus McGee

Tyler Perry's lawyer character in Gone Girl is white in the book (although married to a black woman).

omnithanos

The new Annie.

flazio

BBC TV series Merlin had a black actress play Guinevere.
Also Doctor Who had a character with regeneration powers called River Song. One of those lives was as a black girl.

Mickeroo

Ralf and Florian wrote: »

On that basis if they were holding open auditions for the lead in a movie about Martin Luther King and Daniel Day Lewis turned up they'd have some dilema.

That's just a straw man, obviously it's different when the character in question isn't fictional and is a prominent figure in African American history. If it's a fictional character and colour of skin isn't a defining characteristic there's no real reason for them to have to be white.

Ralf and Florian

Mickeroo wrote: »

That's just a straw man, obviously it's different when the character in question isn't fictional and is a prominent figure in African American history. If it's a fictional character and colour of skin isn't a defining characteristic there's no real reason for them to have to be white.

Ok,shure might as well make Sherlock Holmes black.Arthur Conan Doyle never said he wasn't black so why not.

Mickeroo

Ralf and Florian wrote: »

Ok,shure might as well make Sherlock Holmes black.Arthur Conan Doyle never said he wasn't black so why not.

Exactly.

quickbeam

Ralf and Florian wrote: »

Ok,shure might as well make Sherlock Holmes black.Arthur Conan Doyle never said he wasn't black so why not.

Why not indeed. Sure, Watson is Asian (and female) in Elementary.

pixelburp

A black Sherlock Holmes is scarcely the worst idea in the world; they've exhausted every other combination & possibility for that character so why not? Could be an interesting dynamic in Victorian England.

If race isn't part of a fictional characters persona or arc, then it shouldn't matter what colour the actor is. It doesnt inform the characters position so skin colour has no dramatic impact. Clearly it's a different scenario for dramas based on reallife people for reasons that shouldn't need explaining. Or if the setting and themes are based around race

alan partridge aha

James Bond Black one word pandering.

syklops

In Wild Wild West, the movie, James West is played by Will Smith. In the original TV show, Jim West was played by Robert Conrad, who was white.

Dodge

alan partridge aha wrote: »

James Bond Black one word pandering.

Pandering to who?

You're watching a film about a character who's been played by Scottish, Irish and Australian actors over the course of near 50 years and who's race isn't mentioned anywhere in any film or book

Idris Elba would be, by a mile, the best actor to ever play Bond

If anyone is upset by the idea of a character in a movie being played by a black actor, then they really need to a get a ****ing grip

alan partridge aha

Dodge wrote: »

Pandering to who?

You're watching a film about a character who's been played by Scottish, Irish and Australian actors over the course of near 50 years and who's race isn't mentioned anywhere in any film or book

Idris Elba would be, by a mile, the best actor to ever play Bond

If anyone is upset by the idea of a character in a movie being played by a black actor, then they really need to a get a ****ing grip

No bother let Colin Farrell play SHAFT.

Chain Smoker

Denzel Washington in the remake of the Manchurian Candidate
Denzel Washington in the remake of the Taking of Pelham 123
Denzel Washington in the remake of the Equalizer
Denzel Washington in the upcoming remake of the Magnificent 7

The_Valeyard

Star Trek

Khan Noonien Singh. Originally an Indian warlord tyrant controlling 1/4 of earth.


In reboot, seems to be angry British whitey

eeguy

alan partridge aha wrote: »

No bother let Colin Farrell play SHAFT.

Nah, Jason Statham surely.

Dodge

alan partridge aha wrote: »

No bother let Colin Farrell play SHAFT.

I'm not stopping him

pixelburp

alan partridge aha wrote: »

No bother let Colin Farrell play SHAFT.

And again, it doesn't make sense where race informs a characters backstory or arc; like Shaft who exists specifically as a creation from the Blaxploitation era of film and the African American perspective in NY. James Bond is a blank slate, a male-fantasy figure whose background is deliberately kept vague, so race is perfectly interchangeable. Crying 'pandering' makes no sense.

darkdubh

pixelburp wrote: »

And again, it doesn't make sense where race informs a characters backstory or arc; like Shaft who exists specifically as a creation from the Blaxploitation era of film and the African American perspective in NY. James Bond is a blank slate, a male-fantasy figure whose background is deliberately kept vague, so race is perfectly interchangeable. Crying 'pandering' makes no sense.

Ian Fleming specified that Bond was physicaly a combination of Fleming himself and actor Hoagy Carmichael,neither of whom were black.

eeguy

darkdubh wrote: »

Ian Fleming specified that Bond was physicaly a combination of Fleming himself and actor Hoagy Carmichael,neither of whom were black.

Fleming also said describes Felix Leiter has white, but casting a black actor to portray him hasn't hurt the character.

Ralf and Florian

Mickeroo wrote: »

Exactly.

Ralf and Florian

alan partridge aha wrote: »

No bother let Colin Farrell play SHAFT.

And surely hes a shoo in for the remake of Beverly Hills Cop.Cmon,Axel Foley must be Irish with with that surname.Nothing in the script to say hes not.

pixelburp

darkdubh wrote: »

Ian Fleming specified that Bond was physicaly a combination of Fleming himself and actor Hoagy Carmichael,neither of whom were black.

Doesn't negate what I'm saying though; if the changing of skin colour doesn't affect the perspective, arc or motivations of a fictional character, then the race of the actor shouldn't matter one jot to the storyline. Appearance only matters if it matters to the story. Otherwise, it's just decoration.

And if anything the example of James Bond is a poor one because his portrayal onscreen has almost never reflected Ian Fleming's ego-stroking vision in the first place - especially Daniel Craig with his 'boxer' like appearance - in which case the question just circles back to the big fat 'why does the race matter?' if basic features hasn't hitherto mattered.

flazio

Has Jimmy Olsen been black in any Superman canon? Because he's going to be in the upcoming Supergirl TV series.

Mickeroo

Ralf and Florian wrote: »

<homer>

Yeah I gathered, I'm too lazy to find a meme to show how you missed the point of my reply though.

NIMAN

Anyone mention Nordberg, the character OJ Simpson played in the Naked Gun films?

He was white in the Police Squad series

syklops

Not a movie, but in the 2013 remake of Ironside, Ironside was played by Blair Underwood who is black, but the original Ironside was white. Interestingly, all the controversy was surrounding the actor not being disabled. No one seemed to care whether he was white or not.