Wow, Daniel Dae Kim- interesting!
"I agree with Henrik's post completely as well. But I do get where some of the difficulty lies. I had a Japanese friend who actually now acts at Stratford, and she was so upset with the casting of the film of Memoirs of a Geisha--just the fact that they seemed to cast any Asian, and not typical Japanese who she insisted often looked different--going instead for bigger non Japanese stars in many cases. I mean in a way that's ridiculous (should we only cast Scandinavian actors for Norwegian characters), and I guess any progress is good, but she did make a few valid points... (though overall I admit, I didn't agree with her specificity)."
I also remember that some people were upset about famous non Japanese Asian actresses (Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li, Zhang Yiyi) being cast in Geisha. And while I can understand why Japanese actors might have felt that way, especially given how few roles in American movies there are for Japanese actors, I agree that its quite different than casting a white actor as The King.
Also at times objections can be more of a cultural right-for-the role nature than a "racial" one. I once suggested to an Italian friend that I thought Roberto Benigni would be wonderful as Gennaro in di Filippo's Napoli Millionaria. He immediately called my attention to the fact that Benigni is a clearly recognizable Tuscan type, (and somewhat limited to that type, not known for "range"), very much not a Neapolitan, and that to an Italian it would seem very wrong - akin to casting Fran Drescher as Blanche Du Bois (how hyperbolic the parallel was, I, not being Italian or living in Italy, am not in a position to say). He also understood how that distinction would be completely lost on me. Perhaps to a Japanese viewer, these actresses were simply wrong for Geisha because they were not believable in the roles (whether they were or not, I'm certainly not in a position to say because my ability to distinguish Japanese women from these particular Chinese and Malaysian movie stars is, at best, minimal).
"But I can't help but suspect they'll first look to a "name" (at least as much of a "name" as Kelli O'Hara is), and the options are, as we've established, somewhat limited if they want someone of exactly the correct ethnicity. As I said, I'm very curious to see how casting of this role pans out."
How much of a name was Brynner when King and I opened on Broadway Certainly not much of a name compared to Lawrence. As is clear from him winning the best FEATURED performance by an actor in a musical tony that season. Preposterous as that seems.
Updated On: 4/20/12 at 08:43 AM
