Women Of Color Receiving Roles Where Character Was Originally White
We are always hearing about roles where white actors/actresses get the role of a character of color, but what about these actors and actresses of color who get the roles of originally white characters?
White-washing in Hollywood is very common, and is always discussed, but you never hear of where the situation was reversed! Here a few of the many female characters who were originally white who are played by actresses of color!
1. Bonnie Bennett- The Vampire Diaries
First of all, Bonnie’s last name in the books is MacCullough, not Bennett. In the original book portrayal of Bonnie, she is of Scottish American descent. She has brown eyes and strawberry red-gold hair, and is of fair complexion. This is clearly different compared to Bonnie Bennett, played by Kat Graham who is of dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair.
2. Emily Fields- Pretty Little Liars
In the books, Emily is described as having strawberry blonde hair that is tinted green from chlorine. She has hazel/green eyes. In the TV series on Freeform, Emily Fields is played by Shay Mitchell is half-Filipino with black hair, brown eyes, and dark complexion.
3. Nikita- Nikita
Nikita was based off a Canadian TV show, La Femme Nikita, which is based off the French movie, Nikita! Both previous versions of Nikita were played by white actresses, while The CW tv series that ran from 2010-2013 was played by Maggie Q who is half-Vietnamese! If you are unaware of the show, it is about an ex-spy from a secret government funded organization. All four seasons is currently available to watch on Netflix!
4. Annie- Annie
Annie was originally made 1982. In the new remake, we went from a white, red-head girl, to a black girl. In this new version which was released in 2014, Annie was played by Quvenzhané Wallis, along with Jamie Foxx. Sadly, the race change was met with backlash, but hopefully in the future, people will be more accepting of race change in Hollywood.
While is it great to see any actress playing a big role in movie or television show, it can be even more exciting when the actress is a person of a color! Despite the influx of non-white actresses, we see very little of them in very big roles. Hopefully, we will see more and more actresses of color taking on the lead female role in big Hollywood blockbusters!
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