Natalie Portman Says She Originally Didn’t Know Her “Annihilation” Role Was Whitewashed
Earlier this week, the upcoming film Annihilation received backlash for what many are calling whitewashing members of its cast. The movie, out February 23, is based on a science fiction novel, and had received backlash for placing Natalie Portman in a lead role that the book series revealed to be someone of "Asian heritage" in the second book. Natalie has since addressed the controversy in a new interview..
“Well, that does sound problematic,” Natalie told Yahoo Entertainment regarding the whitewashing of the role. "But I’m hearing it here first."
She went on to say: "We need more representation of Asians on film, of Hispanics on film, of blacks on film, women and particularly women of color, Native Americans — I mean, we just don’t have enough representation. And also these categories like ‘white’ and ‘nonwhite’ — they’re imagined classifications but have real-life consequences. … And I hope that begins to change, because I think everyone is becoming more conscious of it, which hopefully will make change.”
Media Action Network for Asian Americans board member Alieesa Badreshia had previously spoken out against the film's casting decisions in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "Writer/director Alex Garland is not being true and honest to the characters in the book," she said. "He exploits the story but fails to take advantage of the true identities of each character. Hollywood rarely writes prominent parts for Asian American and American Indian characters, and those roles could’ve bolstered the careers of women from those communities.” The founder of the American Indians in Film and Television, Sonny Skyhawk also backed the sentiments saying: "We are not surprised by the Whack-a-Mole diversity replacement that goes on; just when you finish objecting to one whitewashed casting, another one pops up."
Natalie, along with co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh were reportedly among those characters that the movie had whitewashed. The film's director had previously addressed the nature of his casting decisions in a December interview with Nerdist saying: “It would not be in my nature to whitewash anything. That just wouldn’t be like me. I read a book and I adapted it because I thought the book was amazing. And I thought, I’m not exactly sure how to adapt this, but I’ve got an idea. And I just went with it. So that was it.”
Related: Natalie Portman’s New Movie Is Being Criticized for Whitewashing
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