Cameron Crowe apologizes for casting Emma Stone as an Asian

By Tribute on June 4, 2015 | 8 Comments


Emma StoneOscar-winning writer/director Cameron Crowe came under fire recently for his decision to cast Emma Stone as 1/4 Asian character Allison Ng in his most recent film, Aloha.

The film received criticism for not featuring enough Hawaiian actors, despite being filmed and based there. One sore spot was the fact that the female lead was played by a white actor. Crowe described the character of Allison Ng as 1/4 Asian and 1/4 Hawaiian.

The Jerry Maguire writer/director took to his website and wrote an essay apologizing and defending his choice in casting Emma in the role. “Thank you so much for all the impassioned comments regarding the casting of the wonderful Emma Stone in the part of Allison Ng, I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heartfelt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice.”

However, according to Cameron, “Captain Allison Ng was written to be a super-proud ¼ Hawaiian who was frustrated that, by all outward appearances, she looked nothing like one… Extremely proud of her unlikely heritage, she feels personally compelled to over-explain every chance she gets. The character was based on a real-life, red-headed local who did just that.”

Cameron went on to say, “So many of us are hungry for stories with more racial diversity, more truth in representation, and I am anxious to help tell those stories in the future.” ~Greg Chisholm 



Comments & Discussion

  1. Summer • June 4, 2015 @ 9:23 AM

    Well, that explains why her last name is Ng. I was wondering about that.

  2. John Bilcox • June 4, 2015 @ 11:25 AM

    Hey, we all came from Africa… and in any given population there are those that look like they came from any other region. I think social justice warriors and feminists need to give it a rest. I want to see the movie as best as it can be done. I don’t want affirmative action jamming that up. Get the best actor that fits and if that person is an Asian to play a European lead, then hire the Asian. This social justice thing has to end. It’s ridiculous.

  3. robin • June 4, 2015 @ 1:18 PM

    John Bilcox: what does feminism have to do with the article? Do you just dump feminists in with other people you don’t like?

  4. Rommel Luna • June 4, 2015 @ 1:25 PM

    Could be worse, they could have casted a black Human Torch for the Fantastic Four.
    Ouch!

  5. Ann • June 4, 2015 @ 6:05 PM

    I am an actor with a visible disability (I use forearm crutches) I have been told to rent a wheelchair for some auditions because I don’t look disabled enough. I know of two American actors who have my disability and are able to work enough to earn a living. But both their shows are now cancelled so who knows. If Crowe really wants to show diversity, show real actors with disabilities so that people like me can start to earn a living at what we love to do. I am tired of hearing people complain about the lack diversity, I have never seen someone like me on the big screen. I care but I care more about what this says to my child. Hopefully, things will change.

  6. Gus • June 4, 2015 @ 9:56 PM

    @Rommel Luna since the Human Torch is a FICTIONAL character it cant be worse. A fictional character can be anything you want it to be. I am sure your were as peeved that Orphan Annie was made black and Wild Wild West was played by Wil Smith a black man and probably even was upset Django was an ass kicking black cowboy. However I am sure I wont see you byatching about the greatest fraud of all…you know the one where they made Jesus a blond blue eyed Caucasian. No wonder your moniker is Rommel I guess u just paying homage to that wonderful Hitler white supremacist Nazi party and his glorious desert fox. SMDH.

  7. Danielle • June 10, 2015 @ 12:49 PM

    That is the least of the movies worries. It was awful. But we (my friends and I) had a good time none-the-less laughing at it’s oddity. So that’s a plus….. 🙂

  8. ffdy • December 14, 2015 @ 2:26 AM

    I’m a 1/4 Asian and I definitely agree that they should have chosen someone that was also half or 1/4 Asian/half or 1/4 Hawaiian to play the character. For some reason, I feel like less people would be outraged how they gotten a fully Asian actress to play the character. However, I’d feel the same since that’d actually be even more inaccurate since the character is actually half White and only 1/4 Asian. The other 1/4 being Hawaiian which is the real ignored race/ethnicity here. While Native Hawaiian definitely isn’t White, it’s not really Asian either.Hawaiians are basically Oceanian/Pacific Islander like Samoans, Chamorro, etc. I see people more outraged on the Asian part of this though and using this as an example of how Asians aren’t included in the media, making the Hawaiian/Oceanian part excluded or barely a focus. The reason why you’re not seeing many Hawaiian people outraged over this is because their population is even smaller than East Asian. Watch some commercials on tv, and you’ll see some with Asian people, but I guarantee there are few if not any featuring Native Hawaiians.
    Overall, someone who is 1/4 Chinese, 1/4 Hawaiian, and 1/2 White isn’t likely to have blonde hair and blue eyes and likely, they’d have a more Asian eye shape too. Honestly, using a half Asian half White, or half Hawaiian half White actress would have been much more accurate. Also, I believe a character having Asian, Oceanian, and European mixed heritage *is* an accurate representation of modern day Hawaii as I do believe they’re the most common races there. Hawaii is quite diverse. A mixed character includes all 3 of these races. If I were to have a character representing Brazil, I’d probably make them mixed with African, Asian, Native, and European.Her being fully White though defeats that purpose. Just as much as her being fully Asian or Hawaiian would defeat the purpose as well.


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