Color-blind casting is the practice of casting roles without regard to the actor's ethnicity or race. Alternative terms and similar practices include non-traditional casting, integrated casting, or blind casting, which can involve casting without consideration of skin color, body shape, sex, or gender. A representative of the Actors' Equity Association has disputed the use of "color blind casting", preferring "non-traditional casting". Non-traditional casting "is defined as the casting of ethnic minority actors in roles where race, ethnicity, or gender is not germane".

Blackwashing is the deliberate casting of black actors in non-black historical roles or contexts. Whitewashing is the casting of white actors in non-white roles.

Examples

The Non-Traditional Casting Project

The Non-Traditional Casting Project was founded in 1986 to examine problems of racial discrimination in theatre, film and television. The Actors' Equity Association is a co-founder.

Debate and "color-consciousness"

In the theatre community, there is significant debate over the concept of color-blind casting vs "color-conscious casting".

In 1996, Pulitzer-winning playwright August Wilson, who was black, used his Princeton University address on black culture in the United States "The Ground on Which I Stand" to attack the notion of color-blind casting.

In 2017, Associate Editor of American Theatre magazine Diep Tran declared "color-conscious" to be a preferable term. "Color-conscious means we're aware of the historic discrimination in the entertainment industry... and we're also aware of what it means to put a body of color onstage.". The idea promotes intentionality and race-conscious affirmative action to avoid racially homogeneous casts, and has been supported widely across the theatre community.

In 2018, the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law published the article "There's No Business Like Show Business: Abandoning Color-Blind Casting and Embracing Color-Conscious Casting in American Theatre". The article discussed the implications for US employment law and mooted that color-blind casting has not produced its intended result. "Race is still a determining factor in American society, and it is counterintuitive to argue that problems related to race can be fixed by ignoring race altogether". The Broad Online calls a color-blind casting "a superficial solution to a deeper problem."

The 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel sparked further discussion promoting color-conscious casting when Black actor Joshua Henry performed the role of domestic abuser Billy Bigelow alongside white actress Jessie Mueller as Julie Jordan, his partner. Despite a critically acclaimed performance from Henry, many disapproved of the revival's portrayal of a Black man abusing a white woman, which has been historically stereotyped; others questioned the casting of a Black man as an abuser at all. This concern was only exacerbated by a separate discourse surrounding the musical's lack of direct condemnation towards Bigelow's actions, which would fall under heavy scrutiny in the wake of the MeToo movement, as well as the later-proven sexual misconduct allegations levied against cast member Amar Ramasar. When asked if he viewed this version of Billy as a Black man, Henry explained: "I’m playing him as me, who is an African-American man... And sometimes more things are brought to the forefront because I am African-American." Henry went on to state that his casting may benefit future representation for Black performers in classic roles.

Popular shows that employ color-conscious casting include: Hamilton: An American Musical, the BBC's Les Misérables, and the film Mary Queen of Scots (in which the black actor Adrian Lester plays a 16th-century ambassador). In 2017, director Michael Streeter made a color-conscious casting decision for his production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, believing "the decision would add depth to the play". Edward Albee's estate denied permission for the production, stating the casting "would fundamentally change the meaning and message of the play".

Historians Zareer Masani and David Abulafia criticized the BBC's use of color-blind casting for the King & Conqueror series, which features a racially diverse cast, including black actors playing roles such as the Mercian nobleman Morcar.

See also

• Bona fide occupational qualification

• Racebending

• Race-reversed casting

• Tokenism

• Whitewashing in film

Notes

References

Further reading