Rooney Mara 'Embarrassed' Over Whitewashing In Pan

Rooney Mara has admitted that she felt ‘bad and embarrassed’ to have been involved in accusations of 'whitewashing’ in the movie 'Pan’.

The 'Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ star player Tiger Lily in the movie, directed by Joe Wright, one of the most important Native American characters in the story.

Speaking to Deadline, she said: “I think that there are two sides to it. Yes, I do think it curbs art and creativity, and I also think that if you’re going to go by that, you have to be able to… it has to go both ways.

“It can’t just be that you don’t want a white girl to play a certain part. It has to be both sides. And I do think it can curb art and creativity. That being said, is there whitewashing in Hollywood? Absolutely, and I feel really bad and embarrassed to be a part of that.”

She went on to defend Wright’s choice to make the indigenous tribe in the movie 'multi-cultural’, though her character was still white and depicted in tribal dress.

“In J.M. Barrie’s book, the natives were not Native American. That was something later attributed and there’s probably racism behind even that attribution,” she continued.

“In the book, they’re called the Piccaninny tribe, which is wrought with racism. But it was never my intention to play a Native American girl. That was never an option to me. It was Joe [Wright’s] pure desire to make the natives a conglomeration of many different cultures and indigenous people.

“To make them people of the world. He wanted them to be natives of planet Earth. I thought that was a really beautiful intention of his.

“That being said, I understand the anger about whitewashing. I completely do, and I agree with it.”

Many movies in recent years have been accused of whitewashing, where white actors are used to play parts that should be played by the relevant minority actors.

Epic movie 'Gods of Egypt’ was also widely criticised for casting a largely white cast for a film set in the Middle East, as was Ridley Scott for the similarly-themed 'Exodus: Gods and Kings’.

'Gods of Egypt’ director Alex Proyas also apologised in November last year, saying: “The process of casting a movie has many complicated variables, but it is clear that our casting choices should have been more diverse. I sincerely apologize to those who are offended by the decisions we made.”

The film’s producers Lionsgate also said it was sorry, a statement reading:

“We recognize that it is our responsibility to help ensure that casting decisions reflect the diversity and culture of the time periods portrayed. In this instance, we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and diversity, for which we sincerely apologize.

“Lionsgate is deeply committed to making films that reflect the diversity of our audiences. We have, can and will continue to do better.”

Read more
Dumbo re-run hit with racism accusations
Samuel L. Jackson was ‘racially profiled’ making Pulp Fiction
New Yorker cover tackles #OscarsSoWhite

Image credits: Warner Bros/Lionsgate