Hollywood's most controversial movie castings
Lin-Manuel Miranda apologizes for lack of diversity in 'In the Heights'
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MOVIES Backlash
Hollywood has come a long way, but it still has a long road ahead towards equality and inclusiveness. Casting choices are a particular sore spot, as white actors are cast as people of color, able-bodied actors are cast as disabled characters, and cisgender actors are cast in transgender roles—putting marginalized actors out of work.
Even films aiming to show an underrepresented community stumble with issues like colorism—prejudice or discrimination against darker skin tones within the same racial group. Such is the case with Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical film adaptation of his Broadway hit 'In the Heights,' which received criticism after failing to adequately represent Afro-Latinos in a story centered on New York’s Latino communities. The director, who also starred in the film, posted a statement on social media on June 14 acknowledging that casting for his project, set in the diverse neighborhood of Washington Heights, had fallen short.
"I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling unseen in the feedback," Miranda wrote. "I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy. In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we fell short,” he continued, before apologizing, thanking people for their criticism, and promising to do better.
Click through to check out some of the most controversial movie castings in Hollywood's recent history.
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