'Aladdin' is rumoured to be starring Tom Hardy as Jafar.
The people behind the forthcoming live action adaptation of Disney's 'Aladdin' have incited outrage on social media this week after it came out that Tom Hardy was in talks to play the villainous Jafar. Understandably, the actor is now in the midst of 'white-washing' accusations.
Tom Hardy on the set of 'Peaky Blinders'
While Tom Hardy would no doubt make an excellent nemesis of Aladdin, the point is that this is arguably yet another example of Hollywood snubbing diverse actors in favour of white stars despite the context of the actual story. It's still a rumour, however, and there may be Asian actors in talks yet - but Tom is a big favourite of 'Aladdin' director Guy Ritchie.
'Guy is a huge fan of Tom's work and securing him would be a major coup', a source told The Sun. 'There have been conversations and, although nothing is set in stone and things are subject to change, he's certainly one of Guy's favored choices. It just depends on schedules whether he'll be able to sign up.'
Fans on social media are urging Tom to turn down the offer of the role based on the 'white-washing' controversy, and the situation has caused more anger out of the fact that producers have previously said that they are determined to make an 'authentic' film.
'When I came in to make the movie, I wanted to make a diverse version of the movie', producer Dan Lin told Collider. 'Luckily for me Guy Ritchie has the same vision and Disney has the same vision, so we're not here to make 'Prince of Persia'. We want to make a movie that's authentic to that world.'
More: Will Smith rumoured for 'Aladdin' reboot
On the other hand, 'diverse version' does suggest a racially diverse cast, which in theory would include white actors as well as Asian stars. As a matter of fact, Will Smith has been in talks to voice The Genie. Tom Hardy is yet to comment on the speculations.
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