List of whitewashed films

1935-1954

• 1937 The Good Earth

  In the drama film about Chinese farmers, actors Paul Muni and Luise Rainer play Chinese characters.

  Director: Sidney Franklin, Victor Fleming, Gustav Machatý

  Writer: Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, Claudine West

  Actors: Paul Muni, Luise Rainer

• 1944 Dragon Seed

  In the war drama film, actor Katharine Hepburn plays the Chinese protagonist Jade.

  Director: Harold S. Bucquet, Jack Conway

  Writer: Marguerite Roberts, Jane Murfin

  Actors: Katharine Hepburn, Aline MacMahon

• 1944 Anna and the King of Siam

  In the historical drama film, actor Rex Harrison plays the Siamese king Mongkut.

  Director: John Cromwell

  Writer: Talbot Jennings, Sally Benson

  Actors: Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell

• 1947 Black Narcissus

  In the drama film based on a 1939 novel, actress Jean Simmons plays a Kanchi, Tibetan maiden.

  Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

  Writer: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

  Actors: Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, Jean Simmons

• 1947 Fiesta

  In the musical drama film, actor Esther Williams plays the Mexican woman Maria Morales.

  Director: Richard Thorpe

  Writer: George Bruce, Lester Cole

  Actors: Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalbán, Mary Astor

• 1949 Lost Boundaries

  In the drama film based on a true story, white actors play members of a family that is partly African-American but passes as white.

  Director: Alfred L. Werker

  Writer: William L. White

  Actors: Beatrice Pearson, Mel Ferrer, Susan Douglas Rubeš

• 1949 Pinky

  In the race drama film, actor Jeanne Crain plays a partly African American character who can pass as white.

  Director: Elia Kazan

  Writer: Philip Dunne, Dudley Nichols, Jane White, Elia Kazan

  Actors: Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters

• 1951 Show Boat

  In the romantic drama film, actor Ava Gardner plays Julie, a character of mixed ethnicity. An actor of mixed ethnicity, Lena Horne, was originally cast to play Julie before the studio required a casting change.

  Director: George Sidney

  Writer: John Lee Mahin

  Actors: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel

• 1951 Apache

  In the Western film, actor Burt Lancaster plays an Apache warrior.

  Director: Robert Aldrich

  Writer: James R. Webb

  Actors: Burt Lancaster, Jean Peters, John McIntire

1955-1974

• 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's

  In the romantic comedy film, actor Mickey Rooney plays Holly Golightly's Asian neighbor.

  Director: Blake Edwards

  Writer: George Axelrod

  Actors: Mickey Rooney, Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard

• 1965 Othello

  In the film based on William Shakespeare's tragedy play Othello, actor Laurence Olivier plays in blackface the character Othello, who is of Moorish descent.

  Director: Stuart Burge

  Writer: William Shakespeare

  Actors: Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman

1975-1994

• 1975 The Wind and the Lion

  In the historical film, actor Sean Connery plays Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni, a leader of Berber (indigenous people of North Africa) insurrectionists.

  Director: John Milius

  Writer: John Milius

  Actors: Sean Connery, Candice Bergen

• 1982 The Year of Living Dangerously

  In the drama film, actress Linda Hunt plays a male Chinese Australian dwarf.

  Director: Peter Weir

  Writer: Peter Weir, David Williamson

  Actors: Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hunt

• 1983 Scarface

  In the crime film, actor Al Pacino plays Tony Montana, who is of Cuban descent. In fact most of the Cuban-American characters in the film were portrayed by non-Cuban actors.

  Director: Brian De Palma

  Writer: Oliver Stone

  Actors: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer

• 1984 A Passage to India

  In the historical drama film, actor Alec Guinness plays the Indian character Professor Godbole.

  Director: David Lean

  Writer: David Lean

  Actors:Judy Davis, James Fox, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness

• 1985 King David

  In the Biblical epic film, non-Middle Eastern actors play Biblical figures who are of Middle Eastern origin. Richard Gere plays the Biblical figure David.

  Director: Bruce Beresford

  Writer: Andrew Birkin, James Costigan

  Actors: Richard Gere, Edward Woodward

• 1985 Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins

  In the action-adventure film, actor Joel Grey plays a Korean martial arts master who trains Remo Williams.

  Director: Guy Hamilton

  Writer: Christopher Wood

  Actors: Fred Ward, Joel Grey

• 1986 Short Circuit

  In the science fiction film, Jewish actor Fisher Stevens plays an Indian character.

  Director: John Bradman

  Writer: S. S. Wilson, Brent Maddock

  Actors: Tim Blaney, Ally Sheedy, Fisher Stevens

• 1987 Nightflyers

  In the science fiction film, actor Catherine Mary Stewart plays Miranda Dorlac, who in the originating 1980 novella by George R. R. Martin was the black character Melantha Jhirl.

  Director: Robert Collector

  Writer: George R. R. Martin, Robert Jaffe

  Actors: Catherine Stewart, James Avery

• 1988 The Last Temptation of Christ

  In the Biblical epic film, non-Middle Eastern actors play Biblical figures who are of Middle Eastern origin, including Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ.

  Director: Martin Scorsese

  Writer: Paul Schrader

  Actors: William Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, David Bowie, Harry Dean Stanton

• 1988 Short Circuit 2

  In the science fiction film, actor Fisher Stevens plays an Indian character.

  Director: Kenneth Johnson

  Writer: David Foster, Gary Foster, Lawrence Turman

  Actors: Tim Blaney, Fisher Stevens

• 1991 Not Without My Daughter

  In the drama film, actor Alfred Molina, who is of Italian and Spanish descent, plays Sayyed Bozorg "Moody" Mahmoody, an Iranian physician.

  Director: Brian Gilbert

  Writer: David Rintels, Nikhilesh Mehra

  Actors: Sally Field, Alfred Molina

• 1993 The House of Spirits

  In the period drama set in Chile, actors Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons and Winona Ryder play Latin characters.

  Director: Billie August

  Writer: Isabel Allende, Billie August

  Actors: Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Winona Ryder, Jeremy Irons, Antonio Banderas

1995-Present

• 1997 Starship Troopers

  In the science fiction film, actor Casper Van Dien plays John Rico. In the original book, the character was Juan Rico of Filipino descent.

  Director: Paul Verhoeven

  Writer: Edward Neumeier

  Actors: Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards

• 1998 Gods and Monsters

  In the biographical drama about the last years of film director James Whale, white actress Lynn Redgrave plays Whale's housemaid Hanna. In the original book Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram, the character of Hanna is Maria, a maid of Mexican descent.

  Director: Bill Condon

  Writer: Bill Condon

  Actors: Lynn Redgrave, Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser

• 2000 Pay It Forward

  In the drama film based on a novel, actor Kevin Spacey plays teacher Eugene Simonet. In the original book, the teacher is Reuben St. Clair, who is of African American descent.

  Director: Mimi Leder

  Writer: Leslie Dixon

  Actors: Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment

• 2001 A Beautiful Mind

  In the biographical film about John Nash, actor Jennifer Connelly plays Alicia Nash, who was born in El Salvador.

  Director: Ron Howard

  Writer: Akiva Goldsman

  Actors: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly

• 2003 The Human Stain

  In the drama film, actor Anthony Hopkins plays Coleman Silk, a former professor who is African-American and has been passing as a white Jew.

  Director: Robert Benton

  Writer: Nicholas Meyer

  Actors: Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Gary Sinise

• 2004 The Passion of the Christ

  In the Biblical epic film, non-Middle Eastern actors play Biblical figures of Middle Eastern origin, including Jim Caviezel playing Jesus Christ.

  Director: Mel Gibson

  Writer: Mel Gibson, Benedict Fitzgerald

  Actors: Jim Caviezel, Maia Morgenstern, Monica Bellucci

• 2005 Batman Begins

  In the superhero film featuring Batman, actor Liam Neeson plays Ra's al Ghul, who is traditionally depicted in Batman comics to be of Arab descent.

  Director: Christopher Nolan

  Writer: Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer

  Actors: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson

• 2006 World Trade Center

  In the disaster drama film based on the September 11 attacks, actor William Mapother plays Marine Sergeant Jason Thomas, who in real life is black.

  Director: Oliver Stone

  Writer: Andrea Berloff

  Actors: Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maria Bello

• 2007 A Mighty Heart

  In the drama film based on the memoir of the same name, actress Angelina Jolie plays Mariane Pearl, a French-born woman born to a Cuban mother of Afro-Chinese descent and Dutch Jewish father.

  Director: Michael Winterbottom

  Writer: John Orloff

  Actors: Angelina Jolie, Dan Futterman, Adnan Siddiqui

• 2007 Stuck

  In the thriller film based on a true story, actor Mena Suvari plays Brandi Boski, who is based on Chante Jawan Mallardin who is African American.

  Director: Stuart Gordon

  Writer: John Strysik

  Actors: Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Russell Hornsby

• 2008 21

  The film about card counting features actors Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Jacob Pitts and Kevin Spacey in the lead roles. The film is based on the true story where a group of Asian American students and their teacher applied card counting to win significantly in gambling.

  Director: Robert Luketic

  Writer: Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb

  Actors: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne

• 2008 Speed Racer

  In the film, Caucasian actors play the characters that are originally Asian in the Japanese manga and anime adaptation. Similarly, the names of the characters, all originally Japanese, are changed in favor of its Western regionalization.

  Director: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski

  Writer: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski

  Actors: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman

• 2008 Wanted

  In the action film, actress Angelina Jolie plays Fox, who is African-American in the comics and modeled on actress Halle Berry.

  Director: Timur Bekmambetov

  Writer: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Chris Morgan

  Actors: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie

• 2009 Dragonball Evolution

  In the film based on the Japanese manga Dragon Ball, actor Justin Chatwin plays the lead character Goku.

  Director: James Wong

  Writer: Ben Ramsey

  Actors: Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, Jamie Chung

• 2010 The Last Airbender

  In the fantasy adventure film based on the TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, white actors play characters that are depicted as East Asian and Inuit in the TV series. On the other hand, the actors portraying the antagonist Fire Nation characters are mainly Middle Eastern and Indian.

  Director: M. Night Shyamalan

  Writer: M. Night Shyamalan

  Actors: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz

• 2010 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

  In the fantasy adventure film, actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who is half Jewish, plays the title character, a Persian.

  Director: Mike Newell

  Writer: Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard

  Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton

• 2010 The Social Network

  In the drama film, biracial actor Max Minghella plays the ConnectU co-founder Divya Narendra, who is of Indian descent.

  Director: David Fincher

  Writer: Aaron Sorkin

  Actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake

• 2011 Drive

  In the crime film, actor Carey Mulligan plays Irene, who is depicted as Latin in the original novel.

  Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

  Writer: Hossein Amini

  Actors: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston

• 2011 I Don't Know How She Does It

  In the book, Momo Gumeratne is a Sri Lankan woman. In the 2011 film adaptation, Momo Gumeratne is renamed Momo Hahn and is played by Olivia Munn, an actress of mixed Chinese, English, Irish and German descent.

  Director: Douglas McGrath

  Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna

  Actors: Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear

• 2012 Argo

  In the political thriller film based on a true story, actor Ben Affleck plays Tony Mendez, a CIA technical operations officer who is of half Mexican descent.

  Director: Ben Affleck

  Writer: Chris Terrio

  Actors: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin

• 2012-2015 The Hunger Games series

  In the science fiction adventure film, actor Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, who author Suzanne Collins described to have the typical look of her district: olive skin, straight black hair, and grey eyes.

  Director: Gary Ross

  Writer: Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross, Billy Ray

  Actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

• 2013 The Big Wedding

  In the comedy film, actor Ben Barnes plays a Colombian character and wears brownface makeup for the part.

  Director: Justin Zackham

  Writer: Justin Zackham

  Actors: Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton

• 2013 The Lone Ranger

  In the Western film, actor Johnny Depp plays the Comanche sidekick Tonto.[3][20] Depp has claimed on several occasions that he has some Cherokee or Comanche ancestry.

  Director: Gore Verbinski

  Writer: Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio

  Actors: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson

• 2013 Star Trek Into Darkness

  In the science fiction film, actor Benedict Cumberbatch plays the villain Khan Noonien Singh, who is of Indian descent.

  Director: J. J. Abrams

  Writer: Roberto Orci

  Actors: John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve

• 2013 Warm Bodies

  In the zombie comedy film, actress Analeigh Tipton plays Nora, who is depicted in the book as half-Ethiopian.

  Director: Jonathan Levine

  Writer: Jonathan Levine

  Actors: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry

• 2014 Edge of Tomorrow

  In the science fiction film, actor Tom Cruise plays William Cage, a version of the novel's Japanese protagonist Keiji Kiriya.

  Director: Doug Liman

  Writer: Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth

  Actors: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton

• 2014 Exodus: Gods and Kings

  In the Biblical epic film, actors Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver and Aaron Paul play Biblical figures who are of non-European origin.

  Director: Ridley Scott

  Writer: Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Steven Zaillian

  Actors: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro

• 2014 Noah

  The Biblical epic film features an all-white cast. White actor Russell Crowe plays the Biblical figure Noah.

  Director: Darren Aronofsky

  Writer: Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel

  Actors: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson

• 2015 Aloha

  The romantic comedy-drama features an all-white cast and is set in the state of Hawaii, which is over 70% nonwhite. Emma Stone portrayed the character Allison; the character is stated as having a mother of Swedish descent and father of half Native Hawaiian and half Chinese descent.

  Director: Cameron Crowe

  Writer: Cameron Crowe

  Actors: Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams

• 2015 The Martian

  In the science fiction film based on the 2011 novel, actress Mackenzie Davis plays Mission Control satellite planner Mindy Park. Author Andy Weir said he "perceived" Mindy Park as Korean but said he did not explicitly write her as Korean.

  Director: Ridley Scott

  Writer: Drew Goddard

  Actors: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig

• 2015 Pan

  In the fantasy film, actor Rooney Mara plays Tiger Lily, an American Indian character.

  Director: Joe Wright

  Writer: Jason Fuchs

  Actors: Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara

• 2015 Stonewall

  The film about the Stonewall riots depicts a white male fictional protagonist, which members of the LGBT community contested as whitewashing that excluded the key involvement of transgender and lesbian women of color.

  Director: Roland Emmerich

  Writer: Jon Robin Baitz

  Actors: Jeremy Irvine, Jonny Beauchamp, Joey King

• 2016 Gods of Egypt

  In the fantasy film, the principal cast of the Egyptian deities is portrayed by black and white non-Egyptian actors.

  Director: Alex Proyas

  Writer: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless

  Actors: Gerard Butler, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brenton Thwaites

• 2016 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

  In the comedy-drama film based on a memoir and set in Afghanistan, actors Christopher Abbott and Alfred Molina portray Afghan characters.

  Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

  Writer: Robert Carlock

  Actors: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman

• 2017 The Beguiled

  The drama film set in the Southern United States during the American Civil War was based on a 1966 novel that featured the mixed-race teenager Edwina and the black enslaved maid Mattie. Edwina was recast as a white teacher (played by Kirsten Dunst) and Mattie was cut out of the film.

  Director: Sofia Coppola

  Writer: Sofia Coppola

  Actors: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst

• 2017 Death Note

  The English-language adaptation of the Japanese manga relocates the story to Seattle and renamed the protagonist Light Turner.

  Director: Adam Wingard

  Writer: Charles Parlapanides, Vlas Parlapanides, Jeremy Slater

  Actors: Nat Wolff, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley

• 2017 Ghost in the Shell

  The U.S. live action adaptation of the Japanese franchise featured several white actors, including Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, and Michael Pitt, in the roles of Japanese animated characters.

  Director: Rupert Sanders

  Writer: Jamie Moss, William Wheeler, Ehren Kruger

  Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Michael Carmen Pitt, Pilou Asbæk

• 2017 Power Rangers

  In the superhero film based on the television series, actress Elizabeth Banks plays Rita Repulsa, a role previously played by Asian actresses Machiko Soga, Carla Perez and Julia Cortez.

  Director: Dean Israelite

  Writer: John Gatins

  Actors: Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler

• 2018 Annihilation

  In the science fiction film, actresses Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh play characters who in the novel are, respectively, of Asian and half Native American descent.

  Director: Alex Garland

  Writer: Alex Garland

  Actors: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez