Iron Man 3 Recasting Mandarin with racially fitting actors

[MichaelChen]

Comic Mandarin is half British, half ethnic Mongolian. Post your choices for actors to play him, but only actors who are half white, half asian are acceptable in this particular thread.

 

[Chris B]

I'm not sure limiting the options to such a particular ethnic background is a good idea. Besides, I think this is one detail of the character that can be ignored if needed.

 

[Keehar]

I'm not sure limiting the options to such a particular ethnic background is a good idea. Besides, I think this is one detail of the character that can be ignored if needed.

Yep. Ben Kingsley proved that. When we all thought he was the legit Mandarin haha.

 

[MadVillainy]

I think they could've used John Cho over Guy Pearce.

I like Pearce a lot more as an actor but I though John Cho could've done the role well too. Same twist and all that just that Cho plays Killian

 

[MichaelChen]

Isn't John Cho pure Asian? He doesn't fit a half-Asian character.

 

[Majik1387]

Guy Pierce.

 

[Chris B]

I have two trains of thoughts on this.

If they were going to go with a Chinese actor, Chow Yun Fat is my choice, as cliché as that is. Or possibly someone like Tony Leung if they could convince a Hong Kong star to crossover to the States.

But if they were going to go with a Caucasian actor, which I think is a real possibility I think, then I like the Sean Penn suggestion I saw around here.

 

[Dark Raven]

Mark Dacascos could've worked. He played Wo Fat in the new version of Hawaii Five-0 and was a reimagined and updated version of the classic villain. He wasn't a pure communist Chinese like the original but a criminal and former agent of the Chinese government. He was an intimidating villain (particularly in the early episodes) and skilled in hand-to-hand combat. He definitely didn't make Wo-Fat seem like a racist stereotype, but simply a villain who happened to be Asian, of which there are in real life.

He is 51 and around the same age as RDJ, of Filipino, Spanish and Chinese heritage.

 

[2002SpideyFan]

Comic Mandarin is half British, half ethnic Mongolian. Post your choices for actors to play him, but only actors who are half white, half asian are acceptable in this particular thread.

But Mandarin doesn't look as if he has mixed ethnicity. Mandarin looks purely Asian. And he's culturally Chinese. So Mandarin can be, and probably should be portrayed by either native Chinese or American Chinese actor. I mean, you suggested on some topic a Manu Benett as an actor that can play the Mandarin, and he's not even Asian. He's from the New Zeland. He's ethnically Māori. He's not blood related to the Mongolians while many native Chinese actually are. So how is he a racially appropriate actor while actual Chinese actors are not? Because you saw his promo photo from the Spartacus TV-Show, where he poses similarly to the Mandarin from that old Iron Man annual where he looks like an ancient barbarian?

I think that Asian actor can be acceptable for the role of the Mandarin, since it is crystal clear that the Mandarin is more Asian than Caucasian.

 

[wampa1]

Keanu Reeves.