The Martian: Ridley Scott criticised for 'whitewashing' Asian-American actors

Two characters described as Asian-Indian and Korean-American in the book are not played by actors of the same race

Daunting task: Matt Damon stars in the film version of Andy Weir's The Martian (Getty Images)

Ridley Scott’s The Martian may have been met with glowing reviews, but the film has come under fire for “whitewashing” Asian-American roles.

Andy Weir’s original 2014 novel features clear Asian characters, but watchdog group The Media Action Network for Asian-Americans believes the wrong actors were cast to play them.

Nasa’s director of Mars missions, Dr Venkat Kapoor, is described by Weir as “a Hindu” Asian-Indian, but is played by British black actor Chiwetel Ejiofor in the movie. The character’s name has also been changed to Vincent Kapoor.

The part of Korean-American character Mindy Part was given to white blonde actress Mackenzie Davis who, along with Kapoor, plays a key role in attempting to rescue Matt Damon’s astronaut, Mark Watney.

Guy Aoki, MANAA’s founding president, said in a statement: “This feel-good movie, which has attracted Oscar buzz, shouldn’t get any awards for casting. Was Ridley Scott not comfortable having two sets of Asian-Americans talking to each other?

“So few projects are written specifically with Asian-American characters in them and he’s now changed them to a white woman and black man. This was a great opportunity to give meaty roles to talented Asian-American actors - and boost their careers - which would’ve enabled our community to become a greater part of the rescue team.”

Scott has been criticised for racial erasure before, when he cast white actor Christian Bale as Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings and Middle Eastern actors as servants and villains.

“I can’t mount a film of this budget and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such,” he told Variety at the time. “I’m just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn’t even come up.”

“This insulting practice of whitewashing has got to stop,” said Aki Aleong, MANAA president. “Alarmingly it has been increasing in frequency. Today’s audiences expect multi-racial casts in entertainment, as they reflect the multi-cultural environment in which they’ve grown up."