“I Stand By It”: Tilda Swinton Supports The Backlash To Her Casting In ‘Doctor Strange’
"It’s really important, as with any question of diversity, for people to speak loudly and with confidence."
Following months of controversy surrounding her casting as the Ancient One in Doctor Strange, actor Tilda Swinton has labelled the negative response from many fans absolutely “justified”. While speaking with us at the Hong Kong junket for the upcoming film, Swinton praised those who have accused Marvel of whitewashing and said she stands with anyone who speaks out against it.
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“There was a question of the Ancient One — which in the comic strip of Doctor Strange was an Asian man — and there was absolutely a justified outcry from the Asian American community,” Swinton told Junkee’s Maria Lewis. “Particularly, that a part which might have gone to an Asian American actor was going to someone who was white. There was a slight gloss over the fact that actually it was a woman — a woman who was over 50 and not wearing a bikini — but we’ll let that slide for a minute. But seriously, it’s really important — that outcry is important and valid and incredibly important to support… I stand by it.”
“It’s really important, as with any question of diversity, for people to speak loudly and with confidence.”
The news of Swinton’s casting as the Ancient One — who was previously portrayed as a Tibetan man — came at the height of increased discussions around whitewashing in Hollywood more generally. Emma Stone had just played a part-Chinese woman in Aloha, Scarlett Johansson was cast as the lead in the re-make of the iconic Japanese manga Ghosts in the Shell, the extremely blond-haired, blue-eyed Loras from Game of Thrones was set to be Iron Fist in the new Netflix series of the same name.
These are by no means the first examples of this happening, but they were arguably attracting more widespread condemnation than ever before. Comedian Margaret Cho and actor George Takei were among many in the industry who argued these castings (and that of Swinton) contributed to the erasure of Asian American characters and stories, as well as a lack of work for actors of the same race.
Over the past few months, the creators of Doctor Strange have defended their decision. Marvel stated the Ancient One was “a title that is not exclusively held by one character, rather a moniker passed down through time”. They also made a point to note they have “a very strong record of diversity in casting of films and regularly departs from stereotypes and source material to bring its MCU to life.”
The film’s writer C. Robert Cargill stated he was wary of casting a Tibetan as the role could have looked like “a racist stereotype”. He also spoke of the danger he felt this could pose with the Chinese government and distributors. “If you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that [the Ancient One]’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that’s bullshit,” he said.
Tilda Swinton has not spoken about these points but has repeatedly made a point of stating she wasn’t chosen over any Asian actors for the role. She’s also asked that full judgment of her role be withheld until the movie is out.
In our interview before the film’s release, she also spoke about Hollywood’s struggles with the representation of women. Swinton compared the slow process of meaningful change to that of “bringing a ship around”.
“It’s a patience that we’ve borne for decades now,” she said. “Knowing that we would more often than not go into a cinema and be asked to pour ourselves into the avatar of the male hero and we will experience the story of the movie through his eyes… Let’s just hope that we don’t have to employ that patience so much in the future.”
Hopefully Asian audiences don’t have to wait much longer either.
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Read our full interview with Tilda Swinton here.