Plays Great Ethnics: Difference between revisions

This refers to casting practice, and in the case of [[Trope Codifier]] Peter Stormare it has even achieved the status of [[Casting Gag]]. It refers to "international" or "ethnic" - at any rate not American or British - actors who are considered to somehow look or be able to act so vaguely but conspicuously foreign that they can be used for any nationality. It's [[As Long As It Sounds Foreign]] and [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]] applied to casting. However, [[But Not Too Foreign]] is often in effect because you'll want someone who speaks good English (even though intentionally accented) and rather panders to [[Viewers are Morons|viewers' expectations]] than give an accurate portrayal of a specific ethnic identity which also means that the character's background might be very vague as long as it's foreign. Note that [[Plays Great Ethnics]] can have the same [[Unfortunate Implications]] as [[Mistaken Nationality]].

 

 

{{examples}}

* Swedish actor [[Peter Stormare]] has played a German "nihilist" in ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'', a Russian cosmonaut in ''[[Armageddon]]'', an Italian mercenary in ''[[The Brothers Grimm (Film)|The Brothers Grimm]]'', a drunken and violent Frenchman in ''[[Chocolat]]'' - the list goes on.

* Mads Mikkelsen is Danish, but only when in Denmark. His perceived indeterminate ethnicity fits his role in ''[[Casino Royale (Film)|Casino Royale]]'' as Le Chiffre is stateless according to [[Ian Fleming]] and "probably a mixture of Mediterranean with Prussian or Polish strains" and apparently has "some Jewish blood". In the film, [[MI 6]] believes him to be Albanian.

* Born in Casablanca to Spanish parents, [[Jean Reno]] is successful in both European cinema and Hollywood, appearing as French, Armenian, Russian, Italian, Polish, German...

* Croatian actress Mira Furlan plays a Frenchwoman on ''[[Lost]]''. Her cute accent was a plus in her role as the [[Babylon Five|Minbari ambassador Delenn]].

* Alfred Molina (Italian, Spanish and English heritage) does all those plus Russian, Middle Eastern and [[Raiders of the Lost Ark (Film)|South American]] - when not portraying Americans or Brits.

* The Jewish-American-British Andrew Garfield is becoming one of these. He's most well-known for playing the hispaic Eduardo Saverin in ''[[The Social Network]]'', but has also played standard-issue brits and Americans in movies like ''[[The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus]]'' and ''[[The Amazing Spider Man]]''. Also, he is slated to star in a biopic of the Spanish war photographer Robert Capa.

* Italian-American [[John Turturro]] is probably more well known for his various portrayals of hispanics (''[[The Big Lebowski]]'', ''[[Collateral Damage]]''), Spaniards (''[[Mr. Deeds]]''), and Jews (''[[Barton Fink]]'', ''[[Quiz Show]]'', ''[[Millers Crossing]]'') than when he actually plays Italians (mostly in [[Spike Lee]] movies).

* Egyptian Omar Sharif is a classic example. He is so well established as an international actor that nobody questions his ability to play practically any nationality.

* Rade Serbedzija, the actor who played Boris the Blade in ''[[Snatch]]'', is Croatian, but he's the go-to guy for characters from anywhere in Eastern Europe, whether they're evil or not.

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0888937/ Titos Vandis], Greek, who played (among others) three unrelated characters of varying ethnicities on ''[[Barney Miller]]'', none of whom were Greek; there was a Puerto Rican, a [[Roma|Gypsy]], and another one.

* If you need an [[All Asians Are Alike|Asian]] [[Mook]] who can do stunts and martial arts, too, there's Al Leong.

* Back in the days when [[Yellowface]] was still considered apropos, Henry Silva, a man of Spanish and Italian descent whose ethnicity, he jokes, had been "assumed to be everything" made a career playing [[Yellow Peril]] characters in movies like ''[[The Manchurian Candidate]]'' and whatever other ethnic heavy the studios wanted him to.

[[Category:Trivia Trope]]

[[Category:Plays Great Ethnics]]