Hollywood has a tradition of casting white actors to play nonwhite roles, commonly referred to as "whitewashing", and despite the backlash they receive every time they "whitewash" a role movie studios keep racially miscasting roles.
But maybe they should call it "racewashing" since Hollywood filmmakers also like to cast ethnic people as different races, and actors who are trying to make it big in the biz need to be prepared to play anyone from anywhere.
In the video below actor Cliff Curtis proves he's prepared to play any ethnicity Hollywood throws his way.
And despite the fact that he's from New Zealand and of Maori descent he's been asked to play practically every race in the book during his illustrious career as a supporting actor.
Slate's June Thomas sat down with Cliff Curtis to discuss Hollywood's racial casting craziness, asking Cliff What It's Like To Play Every Ethnicity Hollywood Throws Your Way, from which one bit of wisdom really stood out:
“I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously,” he says, “and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with as much dignity and integrity as I can muster. I’m not fooling around. I don’t want to make a fool of that cultural heritage. I represent them as I would represent my own.”
-Via Slate