Matt Damon has done many things. Be it contributing to the entertainment industry as one of the most talented actors, producers, and screenwriters, or using his fame to stand up and raise his voice for pressing issues – the actor has proven perfectly well that he doesn’t step back from something he sets his mind to, even if it means he could get deeply criticized for it.
The actor proved the same thing a few years ago while working on his 2016 mixed-reviewed action fantasy The Great Wall as well. Apparently, some critics accused him of whitewashing after the 53-year-old actor got cast in one of the lead roles in the Chinese epic movie. However, Damon didn’t hesitate to slam all those allegations down with the perfect explanation to defend him.
Matt Damon’s Argument for His Role in The Great Wall
In Hollywood, there have been quite a lot of accusations of whitewashing characters, or transforming the storyline of a character of a particular native into something holding a white savior narrative. Nearly a decade ago, Hollywood’s very own favorite Damon also found himself entangled in these allegations while working on his 2016 movie, The Great Wall.
Apparently, in the Chinese epic film directed by Zhang Yimou that basically encompassed the themes of a period monster movie, some claimed that Matt Damon‘s character of William Garin was whitewashed. According to their argument, the actor had allegedly stolen the role from a Chinese actor since pretty much the entire cast was comprised of Chinese actors.
However, Damon didn’t hesitate to clap these accusations down. Explaining to the Associated Press that William is actually a “mercenary who comes to China to steal gunpowder,” he defended that his character was always meant for someone of European descent, saying (via Vanity Fair):
I didn’t take a role away from a Chinese actor . . . it wasn’t altered because of me in any way.
Adding to this, he admitted hoping for this criticism to die down “once people see that it’s a monster movie and it’s a historical fantasy.” At the same time, he also expressed his disapproval over how the term was being thrown around, saying that he “thinks of the term ‘whitewashing’ as applying to Caucasian actors putting on makeup to appear to be of another race.”
That’s not all. Continuing, the Good Will Hunting actor made sure to put due emphasis on the fact that “That whole idea of whitewashing, I take that very seriously.” And he wasn’t alone in defending himself, his character, and his movie, for backing him up was none other than the film’s director of Chinese descent, Zhang Yimou himself.
Matt Damon Also Had the Filmmaker Jumping to His Defence
Zhang Yimou not only cleared the air about Damon’s character and all the whitewashing allegations attached to him but also clarified some major misunderstandings related to the themes of the movie. He claimed that his movie was “the opposite of what is being suggested” in ways more than one. In his statement to Entertainment Weekly, he said:
Matt Damon is not playing a role that was originally conceived for a Chinese actor. The arrival of his character in our story is an important plot point. There are five major heroes in our story and he is one of them—the other four are all Chinese. The collective struggle and sacrifice of these heroes are the emotional heart of our film.
Additionally, he emphasized that his film “deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with one of the largest Chinese casts ever assembled” was “being made at tent pole scale for a world audience” for the first time, and “should be embraced by our industry.”
As for his own defense, the filmmaker didn’t hesitate to add:
As the director of over 20 Chinese language films and the Beijing Olympics, I have not and will not cast a film in a way that was untrue to my artistic vision. I hope when everyone sees the film and is armed with the facts they will agree.
To put it in a nutshell, it seems like all the viewers and critics who downplayed the movie based on these very allegations really needed to get their facts straight because the entire cast of the movie tried truly hard to get it made as accurately as possible. As for the other criticism related to the plot and execution of the movie? Well, true enough, nothing can be said in its defense.
The Great Wall can currently be watched Prime Video.
