UNITED STATES, October 9, 2015 (NY Daily News): Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” is being slammed by an advocacy group for the lack of Asian American actors in the film. Media Action Network For Asian Americans (MANAA) calls “The Martian” just one of many films that are being “white-washed” compared to the written material they are based on. The film was adapted into a screenplay by Drew Goddard from Andy Weir’s novel by the same name.
MANAA pointed out that in Weir’s novel, NASA’s Director of Mars Operations is Dr. Venkat Kapoor — an Asian Indian character who identifies as Hindu. In Scott’s film, he is played by British black actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and the name is changed to Vincent Kapoor. Character Mindy Park is written as Korean American in the novel, but portrayed by Mackenzie Davis — a white blonde actress.
MANAA blasted Ridley Scott for leaving Asian-Americans out of the film. “So few projects are written specifically with Asian American characters in them and he’s now changed them to a white woman and black man,” MANAA founding president Guy Aoki said in a statement. “This was a great opportunity to give meaty roles to talented Asian American actors — and boost their careers — which would’ve enabled our community to become a greater part of the rescue team. This feel-good movie, which has attracted Oscar buzz, shouldn’t get any awards for casting,” Aoki added.