Snow White and The Huntsman, starring Charlize Theron and that girl from the Vampire movies (Kristen Stewart), also stars a bunch of average-sized actors. That doesn’t sound like a scandal, but the Little People of America, which supports people of short stature such as those with Dwarfism, is none too pleased with the casting of non-dwarfs to play dwarfs.
According to TMZ.com, a representative of the LPA group says, “”This means both casting people with dwarfism as characters that were specifically written to be played by little people … and other roles that would be open to people of short stature.”
Remember Danny Woodburn who played the struggling short-statured actor Mickey Abbott on Seinfeld? The New York Post quotes him as saying, “This is akin to black face,” and believes that roles written for short-statured individuals should be offered to little people first.
The New York Post reports how purposeful the casting of average-sized actors was for “Huntsman”:
In an odd little mishap, Woodburn was accidentally sent a “Huntsman” script 16 months ago as he was preparing for his role in Julia Roberts’ Snow White flick, “Mirror Mirror.”
The little “Seinfeld” star was stunned to see, in the script, names of average-sized actors penciled in for the dwarf roles.
“These guys are all fabulous actors,” Woodburn said.
Gotta give props to Woodburn for taking up the cause while maintaining his class and respect for his colleagues.
What do you think of casting average-sized actors to play dwarfs? Is Woodman on the mark here in comparing someone who is digitally shrunk-down to portray a dwarf to someone made-up to look Black when actors who fit the description better are overlooked?
The term “dwarf” that is used for medical dwarfism originated from the fantasy creature, not the other way around. –THE MEDICAL DISORDER IS NAMED AFTER THE MYTHICAL CRETURE– This argument is beyond ridiculous. If, as another poster mentioned, the roles of characters with medical dwarfism were given to “regular” actors, THEN it would be problematic. But it’s tantamount to saying that only gay male actors can play fairies in fantasy films, because “fairy” is a term that has been applied to gay men.
You are all screwy. Stop pretending this inane exchange of jargon constitutes a discussion.
Guess what? The makers of the film hire whoever they think is best for the role.
Get over it.
I see their point, but comparing it to blackface seems a little extreme to me. First of all, as someone mentioned, there is a case to be made that a fantasy “dwarf” and a person with what used to be called “dwarfism” are two different things. Is the story of Snow White meant to involve “dwarves” in the fairy tale sense or in the medical sense? Secondly, this is one of those “damned either way” scenarios. If the studio DID cast little people in the roles of dwarves, then that would be a slur against little people as well. The… Read more »
of course dwarf talent, midgets & “little people” actors / entertainment were overlooked when they cast Snow White and the Huntsman! we’re guessing nobody saw eye to eye on this! it was a business decision and here the ticked off little stinkers; warwick davis, danny woodburn, gary arnold, et. al are taking it as a low blow! get over it and move on! welcome to hollywood! sometimes, you’re just going to come up short and not get cast for all the “auditions” in life… 99% of the opportunities that are presented to us never come to fruition. we concentrate on… Read more »
It seems like it wouldn’t be THAT hard to get a couple of little people actors to play these roles…there are some very skilled and established ones out there (the guy who plays Tyrion in Game of Thrones is the best actor in the show)…seems like insensitivity AND laziness to hire small bodies just to paste “famous” (debatable) faces onto them.
I can’t say I completely agree. Bob Hoskins as the blind dwarf was luminous, I’m not sure anyone else (regardless of size) would have done it in quite the same way. That would be like saying Anthony Hopkins and Gerard Depardieu are interchangeable.
Though I have to say, that dude from Shaun of the Dead, totally replaceable in SWATH.
I think it depends, if the intention is to portray genuine dwarfism (as it exists in the real world) then, yes, it would be alot more appropriate to cast dwarf actors. But this is a fantasy film, I think there’s a certain amount of artistic licence in the depiction of magical creatures.
True, but then you get into the problem that for the longest time, actual little people were rarely depicted in movies or the media. I mean how often is there a role out there that isn’t in a fantasy film available?
That’s true and it is a big issue, the only little roles I can think of outside fantasy are bizarre villans and comic relief stand ins, but it’s still debatable whether snow white lives with dwarves or dwarfs. Given the German folk roots probably the former. There’s room for interpretation when it comes to supernatural creatures who just happen to resemble small humans.
Just look at Heimdall, he’s a Scandinavian deity, one of who’s names was “The shining white god,” but the black actor who played him really fit in.
True, though your example isn’t quite the same. It’s different when an individual from a unprivileged group is replacing an individual from an privileged group, rather than the other way around. It’s like, when Matt Bomer finally came out, a lot of people in the LGBT community were like – see see, a gay guy can play a straight male lead! It was about proving that they shouldn’t be denied access to those types of roles. On the other side of that, whenever you have known straight actors playing lgbt people, there’s often concern about whether that role should have… Read more »
Alright I can see their point, until they mention ‘black face.’ One of the huge problems with ‘black face’ was the way in which it played on the stereotypes about African-Americans and the way it was meant as a mockery of African-Americans. It’s not as if African-Americans in those roles would have made those roles any better. But besides that, I can definitely understand the frustration and anger when roles created specifically for little people are given to people of average stature. It’s probably more comparable to the way some Japanese anime gets white-washed when it’s put into live-action in… Read more »
Blackface is (allegedly) offensive because of specific historical circumstances, in which blackface characters/actors created and perpetuated certain harmful racist stereotypes about black people. The idea that white actors are taking black actors’ roles is not, so far as I understand, the key concept behind why blackface is offensive. And, thus, the idea that less vertically challenged actors are “stealing” roles that ought to go to little people, as being offensive and akin to blackface, seems a bit off-base, if not downright absurd. I am sure that little people face plenty of discrimination, and I do not mean to make light… Read more »
Allegedly? I’m pretty sure it’s definitely offensive.
A big part of the reason blackface is offensive is because some of its early roots were in white people donning black face paint with the intent of “let me show you how these colored folks act!!!”.
I don’t think the use of average height talent to play little people is being done with the same reasoning.