Got word of this from the folks at Racebending... Casting has begun for the live action movie adaptation based on Marvel Comics' teen superhero series Runaways. Could this be a cool opportunity for an Asian American actress? Not so fast...
While it's an ensemble book, the storylines significantly focused on a Japanese American goth girl character named Nico Minoru -- the group's leader. I'm not familiar with Runaways, but I'm told that Nico figures in as the predominant heroine of the series. Cool, right?
But I think you know where this is going... While the comic books explicitly depict Nico as several-generations Japanese American, the casting breakdown makes no mention of the character being Asian, nor does it make note that Asian American actresses should submit:
Alex Wilder"Uniquely beautiful." That's all Nico gets. Basically, following the usual f-ed up logic of Hollywood, characters who are white don't need ethnicity mentioned in the breakdown because it's generally assumed that white actors will submit. (Alex's race, as you can see, is clearly specified.)
Boy 1: Very smart, natural leader, in need of a father figure
Male, African American, must play 16-18
Must be at least 16 by January 2011
Chase Stein
Boy 2: A rebel, ignores rules and authority, wounded inside
Male, must play 16-18
Must be at least 16 by January 2011
Nico Minoru
Girl 1: Uniquely beautiful, nurturing but guarded
Female, must play 16-18
Must be at least 16 by January 2011
Gert Yorkes
Girl 2: Chubby oddball, smart and verbal
Female, must play 16-18
Must be at least 16 by January 2011
Karolina Dean
Girl 3: Conventionally beautiful, with an unchecked ego
Female, must play 15-18
Must be at least 16 by January 2011
Molly Hayes
Girl 4: An innocent, wide-eyed and overprotected
Female, must play 8-10
Must be at least 9 by January 2011
So what's up with casting for Nico? Is the studio making an effort to de-emphasize the character's race -- yet another Hollywood whitewash? Keep an eye on this one. More over at Racebending: "Runaways" Movie Casting Breakdown.
