Damon: Film role isn’t ‘whitewashing’

Matt Damon criticized “outrageous” stories in the era of fake news as he responded Tuesday to accusations that his role in the new China-Hollywood coproduction “The Great Wall” should have gone to an Asian actor.

Some critics have said Damon’s casting as the lead character amounted to “whitewashing,” in which Caucasians are chosen for roles that actors of other ethnicities should play. In an interview with The Associated Press, Damon said he thinks of the term “whitewashing” as applying to Caucasian actors putting on makeup to appear to be of another race.

“That whole idea of whitewashing, I take that very seriously,” Damon said, using the example of the IrishAmerican actor Chuck Connors, who played the lead character in the 1962 film “Geronimo,” about the famed Apache chief.

Damon, 46, plays an English mercenary in “The Great Wall,” the upcoming $150 million adventure fantasy about a Chinese army battling monsters, helmed by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou.

The movie’s trailer sparked criticism in the U.S. that a white man had been chosen to play the lead in a film set in China meant to showcase Chinese culture.

Damon questioned whether the critical stories on online news sites based on “a 30-second teaser trailer” would have existed before the era of fake news and headlines designed to make people click on them.

CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION Matt Damon stars in “The Great Wall,” which has been criticized for not casting an Asian actor in his role.