Natalie Portman Addresses Whitewashing Controversy in Upcoming Film Annihilation

Director Alex Garland has been accused of whitewashing ahead of the release of his film, Annihilation.

The movie is based on the best-selling Southern Reach trilogy written by Jeff VanderMeer. Natalie Portman plays a biologist who enters an environmental disaster zone to save her husband, who is played by Oscar Isaac.

However, Portman’s character in the books is Asian. Jennifer Jason Leigh also has a part in the film, and her character is supposed to be half-Native American.

Advocacy groups Media Action Network for Asian Americans and American Indians in Film and Television have recently called out Garland, Paramount Pictures, and Skydance for their casting choices.

After hearing of the controversy, Portman told Yahoo! Entertainment, “We need more representation of Asians on film, of Hispanics on film, of blacks on film, women and particularly women of color, Native Americans – I mean, we just don’t have enough representation. And also these categories like ‘white’ and ‘nonwhite’ – they’re imagined classifications but have real-life consequences. I hope that begins to change because I think everyone is becoming more conscious of it, which hopefully will make a change.”