Why did David Lean insist on casting Alec Guiness in ethnic roles?!
Question: Yes they WERE great friends but casting Alec as an Arab in Lawrence of Arabia could have ruined the film. Likewise as an Indian in Passage to India. What say you?
Answers: Yes they WERE great friends but casting Alec as an Arab in Lawrence of Arabia could have ruined the film. Likewise as an Indian in Passage to India. What say you?
the movies justified his actions. At the time it was more important to have marquee names attached to the film than historical accuracy...just like today
A stretch perhaps, but he pulled it off. He was an actor of exceptional range and interest. Why else would he chosen to be Obi Wan Kenobi?
sorry, didn't mean to imply david lean had anything to do with star wars
Well, it was pretty much standard in Lean's era to cast white, western actors in starring roles, ethnic or not. They were the stars, basically. By the time of Passage to India, I guess that was dying out, but perhaps Lean was still living in that other era.
Non-white actors were heard of in Britain (say, Marne Maitland, George Pastell), of course, but they tended to get only character parts.