Tina Fey sparks outrage after casting white actors as Afghans in film

Tina Fey's latest film Whiskey Tango Foxtrot may have a mix of all the right ingredients, but there's one problem: two primary Afghan characters, Fahim Ahmadzai (Christopher Abbott) and Ali Massoud Sadiq (Alfred Molina), are being played by white actors.

The news has unsettled quite a few as they argue that Fey's film features 'whitewashing' of characters. Molina is half-Spanish and half-Italian; Abbott is Eastern European and Portuguese.

While the actors' onscreen prowess is not in question, Fey's casting choice is.

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Upon being asked about the casting of white actors in her war drama, Fey responded, "When it came to the role of Fahim [Abbott], and to Sadiq [Molina], I said to them, ‘guys, I beg you to be thorough. And I beg you to please look, to find an Afghan person if you can’."

"And then I came in towards the end, and I would read with the two or three finalists for these major roles. And, y’know, it came down to it, and there were two guys up for the role of Fahim, and Chris Abbott won the role, he won it fair and square..." news.com.au quoted her as saying.

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She admitted that while there is a probability of there being Afghan actors out there who can play the role, however, there were none during the time of her casting and Abbott and Molina are the "best people for the role".

“And it’s not to say that that person isn’t out there, obviously, of course there is a person of that ethnicity who could play that part. But in 2015, in the pool of actors in New York City that [casting director] Bernie Telsey very, very diligently searched through, these were the best people for the role," said the actor.

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Here's what she had to say in her defense, “I try to make myself feel warm about it in the fact that, y’know, Afghans are Caucasians, it’s Caucasians playing Caucasians. If you really wanted to go to the mat on it, you could say it’s not any different than, y’know, an Aussie playing a Brit, although I’m sure people feel that it is.”

Watch the trailer here: