The cast and director of Memoirs Of A Geisha have hit back at angsty Westerners criticising the film for having a pan-Asian cast for playing Japanese characters.
Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh, who plays celebrated geisha Mameha, said it wasn’t the first time actors had swapped nationalities: “In Asia we have played Koreans, Japanese, and we constantly do that.” She added slyly, “We don’t question this in the same way [western actors] don’t question if you play a German.”
Lead actress Zhang Ziyi (Chinese, if you’re asking) reckons the cast’s nationality was small fish compared to learning how to walk in eight-inch heesl: “Regardless of background you have to learn and train hard to become a convincing geisha,” she said. “They work so hard that you have to learn even if you’re Japanese.”
Yeoh said there was ‘a great warmth of feeling’ on set, with director Rob Marshall making sure the warm fuzzies boosted confidence in his actors: “He said, ‘You are all here because I believe in each of you.’ And that was all we needed to hear.” Altogether now – group hug.
Rob Marshall agreed, saying it was a tradition in film-making for actors to swap nationalities. “You have Egyptian-born Omar Sharif playing a Russian in Doctor Zhivago or an America-born Renee Zelwegger playing Bridget Jones. When I cast Queen Latifah in Chicago, everyone said to me, “Well, you know, it’s 1920’s Chicago, there’d be no such thing as an African-American matron in a jail,” but to me she was right.”
“To me it’s all about their acting. I couldn’t have cast this movie twice. These are the best actors in the world for these roles, period.” Sniff. More hugs now folks, this is all too emotional…