Casting in Color

The way things are today, you can't be too careful when it comes to racial sensitivity and attention to diversity. There are no rules, per se, yet everyone seems to be breaking them on a daily basis. In this overly PC, continuously offended world, how do you make the right decisions when it comes to casting roles? Do you cast based on audience draw or lean toward inclusion regardless of the story you plan to tell? Is there something in between? Will making the wrong choices hurt your film or does it even matter?

The answer to all of the above is YES.

There is a lot of noise out there about making movies to attract multi-racial audiences, and there certainly is some logic to that theory. If I'm a casting director working on a big Hollywood studio project, I'm naturally going to be sensitive to two huge facts: 1) more than 70% of Americans identify as Caucasian and 2) 18 of the top 20 grossing films in 2015 featured Caucasian leads. While item one is indisputable, it's easy to say fact #2 could be driven by the plethora of films featuring purely Caucasian casts or at least white leads.

That aside, several of the top 20 films this year have shattered traditional blockbuster casting molds. Okay, let's face it: Will Smith shattered those molds years ago. But is that repeatable? The jury is still out.

The truth is, when you're casting a film that includes time-tested characters, your first loyalty needs to be to your existing fan base. Does it make sense to cast Idris Elba as James Bond? No, it doesn't. Why? Because there is no way to "explain" the change to loyal audiences, no matter how awesome Idris Elba may be. (And we all know he is.) Every Bond in the history of Bond has been similar in look and feel. It makes no more sense to cast a black man as James Bond than it does to cast Tom Cruise as Wonder Woman. Iconic characters generally need to be left alone. Consistently we have seen "progressive" filmmakers attempt to recolor classic, well-known characters only to fail miserably. (Anyone see "Fantastic Four" lately? Yeah, I didn't think so.)

From a psychological perspective, audiences develop an "image" of a character based upon how they're used to seeing that character. Cinderella will always be a pretty blond white girl, assuming Disney wants to keep making hundreds of millions at the box office on Cinderella-based fare. Seeing a major change in a beloved character causes watchers to experience a kind of psychological dissonance that simply makes them uncomfortable. They may go see the movie, but those first viewers won't feel good about it, won't know why, but will tell their friends to stay away. Even a brilliant movie may bomb because of this.

Your second loyalty in casting needs to be to your story. If your film is a coming of age story about a boy growing up in China and dealing with the conflict between tradition and modern life, casting a person of any other race isn't going to make sense. Audiences will get stuck on that rather than seeing what an awesome story you have to tell. The recent backlash over the casting of Mara Rooney as Tiger Lily in "Pan" is a great example. Ms. Rooney did an amazing job from an acting point of view, but it was completely overshadowed by the fact that she just didn't fit the character. Her father was clearly Native American. She clearly is not. Even children pick up on these things. (My child is no Tiger Lily loyal but quickly realized that she and the band of natives didn't look like a tribe.) Casting choices should fit the story at all times, regardless of how badly you want to be inclusive. Now, that DOESN'T mean you cast to stereotype. There is a major difference between stereotype and character, and all good filmmakers can sense the difference.

Finally, you need to be aware of the character. Suppose my story is about a Southern girl who wants to be the belle of her high society ball in Redneckville, USA because it's a long-standing family tradition. I HAVE to cast that girl and her friends as Caucasians. Now, suppose my Southern girl wants to BREAK tradition and become the belle of the ball? Now, I can cast any race I like in that role and may even lean toward African American because of the natural conflict that will arise from that choice. If my character wants to play basketball professionally but must overcome the fact that he's short, again, race won't matter. I can cast black, white, whatever, and be successful. I might even cast the character as Asian to make the character stand out even more than his height alone. Before I cast the role, I need to understand the character: history, motivation, and how s/he fits into my story.

Let's face it: Hollywood's practice of casting white actors in non-white roles is a long-standing and irritatingly senseless tradition. However, audiences are more outspoken and sensitive to Hollywood's attempts to dupe them. So, if you want diversity vs. travesty, make sure you first tell a story where diversity makes sense, then cast based on the characters and the stories they have to tell, not upon whether or not it will make you appear to be politically correct in your choices. It's always PC to stay true to your story and character and audiences will appreciate your choices.

FYI - SOMEONE WILL ALWAYS COMPLAIN. There is nothing you can do about that, so just accept it and move on.

In the end, a typical cast in a modern American field shouldn't be monochromatic, but your casting choices should always serve the story and the characters foremost. No actor should ever be placed in the cast to serve as a racial token, nor to fulfill a stereotype. If the character is race-less as written, then cast the person who does the best job auditioning for the role, regardless of color. Audiences appreciate a film that feels true, not just politically correct.

The Big Studio Casting Catch

Recently headlines have told the sad story of the on-going culture of discrimination in Hollywood. Idris Elba is too "street" to play Bond. Maggie Gyllenhaal, at 37, is too old to play the love interest of a man old enough to have fathered her. Anne Hathaway at 32 is losing roles for characters written as older than her to women in their twenties. The still insanely gorgeous Salma Hayek feels she has been written off by Hollywood because she's nearing 50. Melissa McCarthy faces constant criticism over her weight.
     While there is little doubt these stars have experienced the negative side of a middle-aged-white-male-friendly fickle Hollywood machine, let's check the stats for the most visible studio films of 2015 to see just how pervasive the problem is today (with love interests highlighted in multi-lead casts):

• Jurassic World: Chris Pratt (36), Bryce Dallas Howard (34)
• Avengers, Age of Ultron: Robert Downey, Jr. (50), Chris Hemsworth (32), Mark Ruffalo (48), Chris Evans (34), Scarlett Johansson (31), Jeremy Renner (44), Linda Cardellini (40)
• Straight Outta Compton: O'Shea Jackson, Jr. (24)
• Furious 7: Vin Diesel (48), Paul Walker (41), ...Michelle Rodriguez (37)
• Kingsman, The Secret Service: Colin Firth (55), Taron Egerton (26)
• Mad Max, Fury Road: Charlize Theron (40), Tom Hardy (38)
• Ant-Man: Paul Rudd (46), Evangeline Lilly (36)
• Cinderella: Lily James (26), Richard Madden (29)
• Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation: Tom Cruise (53)
• Trainwreck: Amy Schumer (34), Bill Hader (37)
• Spy: Melissa McCarthy (45), Jude Law (43), Jason Statham (48)
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: Henry Cavill (32), Armie Hammer (29), Alicia Vikander (27), Elizabeth Debicki (25)
• Pitch Perfect 2: Anna Kendrick (30), Rebel Wilson (35)
• Fifty Shades of Grey: Dakota Johnson (25), Jamie Dornan (32)
• Terminator Genisys: Emilia Clark (29), Jai Courtney (29), Arnold Schwarzenegger (68)
• McFarland, USA: Kevin Costner (65), Maria Bello (48)
• Magic Mike XXL: Channing Tatum (35)
• The Longest Ride: Scott Eastwood (34), Britt Robertson (25)
• Insurgent: Shailene Woodley (24), Ansel Elgort (21), Theo James (31)
• Ricki and the Flash: Meryl Streep (66), Kevin Kline (68)
• Fantastic Four: Miles Teller (28), Michael B Jordan (28), Kate Mara (32), Jamie Bell (34)
• Hitman, Agent 47: Rupert Friend (34), Hannah Ware (32)
• No Escape: Lake Bell (36), Owen Wilson (47), Pierce Brosnan (62)

 

     This chart shows that, although there does appear to be some opportunity for women over 32, the big studios still generally cast older male leads with younger females, shying away from similarly-aged female leads or love interests. If you're an actress who's hit her 35th birthday, the outlook isn't so great when it comes to the big-budget Hollywood movie machines.

     Oddly enough, recent studies showed that women in the 30-45 age range have more disposable income and are more likely to head to the theaters if there's something there to draw their attention. Just look at the box office success of female-friendly films like "Cinderella" ($201.1M), "Pitch Perfect 2" ($183.8M), "Fifty Shades of Grey" ($166.1M), "Spy!" ($110.4M), and "Trainwreck" ($105.7M), all currently in the top 20 gross list for 2015. As early as 2011, movie ticket sales were split 50/50 between male and female buyers, with a trend toward females purchasing more often than males. More recent numbers show a trend toward 55% of ticket buyers being female, and the this chart proves that movies featuring female leads are pulling those audiences in where they're available. (Note the slightly higher per/screen average for movies with female leads than those with males.)

     Logic would dictate that the big studios should be scrambling to produce fare that appeals to the increasing 30-45 female movie consumer base. Instead, more than half of the major studio releases in 2015 have been action films, though they have clearly attempted to win female viewers by casting stronger female lead roles and expanding female roles overall. On the flip side, most of the ensemble casts in the big studio films were still mainly male, typically out-numbering female lead roles 2 to 1.

    So what to do about the lack of quality roles for all of the outstanding actresses out there over 32? The fix lies in the hands of low budget studios and independent filmmakers. Releases like 2014's "Cake" (starring Jennifer Aniston) and "Still Alice" (Julianne Moore) fared well with female audiences. "Alice" raked in $18.6M on a budget of $4.1M and both films earning a bevy of nominations and awards, including a Best Actress Oscar for Julianne Moore.
     Now, what about the whole Idris Elba/Bond fiasco? Can black leads pull the box office draw their white peers do? Hmmm...I think the $141M over 3 weeks speaks volumes. Smart filmmakers should pay attention, even if the big studios decide to cling to their 1950's-era casting practices.