Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin movie, which has been produced by Disney and is being shot in London, is making white-skinned actors put on make-up that makes them appear brown, according to report in the British tabloid Daily Mail and the newspaper Sunday Times.
The live-action version of Disney’s 1992 animated movie stars Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott, who is half-Gujarati (her mother is from Uganda) and half-British.The movie will be released in 2019.
“The eagerly anticipated live action production, which stars US actor Will Smith as Genie, is currently being filmed by director Guy Ritchie at Longcross studios in Surrey,” the report stated. “But despite production taking place under 30 miles from London, a city with a community of over one million Asian people, Disney said it was forced to bring in white actors to fill background roles. The studio giant said positions for stunt men, dancers and camel handlers could not be filled for the film, which comes out in May next year.”
One of the extras on the sets, Kaushal Odedra, told the Sunday Times that he saw up 20 “very fair skinned” actors waiting lining up to have their skin darkened.
British editor and producer Riaz Meer told Daily Mail, “Failing to hire on-screen talent of the right ethnic identity to meet the clear needs of this productions is just plain wrong. We expect better from all filmmakers.”
Disney has taken great pains to ensure a multi-racial cast after criticism of whitewashing in its previous films. The studio put out a casting call for actors of Middle Eastern or Indian extraction to play the lead roles. Nearly 400-500 of the background characters in the movie are reportedly Indian, Middle Eastern, African, Mediterranean or Asian.
Among the possible origins of Aladdin, the urchin whose fortunes change after he finds a magic lamp that conceals a genie, is Chinese.