Disney has come under fire, after an extra on the upcoming live-action Aladdin film has revealed that the company has been using makeup to “brown up” white extras.
According to The Daily Mail, the movie is being filmed in Surrey, England, (where over one million Asian people live close by in London), Disney say they were forced to bring in white actors to fill in as extras.
Actors on set first told media outlets that they spotted “very fair skinned” actors lining up outside makeup tents, “waiting to have their skin darkened.” One of the extras, named Kaushal Odedra told The Sunday Times that, “Disney are sending out a message that your skin colour, your identity, your life experiences amount to nothing that can be powered on and washed off.”
There are also reports that although around 400 of the 500 extras are Indian, Middle Eastern, African, Mediterranean or Asian, there are around 100 that are still white.
Disney have responded to the allegations, stating that only a “minimal” amount of their extras are white, and only because they had to use them.
“Great care was taken to put together one of the largest most diverse casts ever seen on screen,” said a Disney spokesperson according to Deadline. “Diversity of our cast and background performers was a requirement and only in a handful of instances when it was a matter of specialty skills, safety and control (special effects rigs, stunt performers and handling of animals) were crew made up to blend in.”
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