Cameron Crowe issues ‘heart-felt apology’ for Emma Stone casting
“The character was based on a real-life, red-headed local.’’
Director Cameron Crowe wrote an open letter in his blog The Uncool on Tuesday night following backlash on his casting choice of Emma Stone as the half-Chinese-Hawaiian character Captain Allison Ng in his new film, Aloha. The Hawaiian heritage of Ng’s character is integral to the film’s plot, but many critics have noted that casting Stone, who is Swedish, English, German, Scottish, and Irish, was a continuedmisstep in the diversity issuesof Hollywood.
In his response, Crowe wrote:
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 heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice. As far back as 2007, 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. A half-Chinese father was meant to show the surprising mix of cultures often prevalent in Hawaii. 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.
However, the media onslaught surrounding Aloha hasn’t done much to improve its hype. The romantic comedy, which pairs Bradley Cooper with Stone alongside a box office favorite cast of Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, and Alec Baldwin, raked in a $10 million opening weekend (against a $40 million budget) with an 18 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
2015 summer movie blockbusters
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