Disney has been struggling to fill the role of its male lead for the live action version of Aladdin for quite a while now. This is rumored to have been a clever marketing strategy in order to draw the public eye. According to one casting agent; “finding a male lead in his 20s who can act and sing has proven difficult — especially since the studio wants someone of Middle-Eastern or Indian descent.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, two big names—Dev Patel and Riz Ahmed were also considered at one point and it is safe to say that either one of them would’ve brought in the crowds.
However, the role eventually went to Egyptian-Canadian actor Mena Massoud.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, stand-in for Massoud, Kaushal Odedra said that while he was on set, he witnessed around 20 white people getting “tanned” in order to play extras in the film. Being of Indian descent himself, Odedra was disturbed by this situation and although Director Guy Ritchie refused to make a comment, Laura Sheppard whose agency, Casting Collective, provided Disney with extras said it wasn’t an unusual practice;
“If we don’t have enough people of a particular ethnic group on our books, we will source people from the required group,” said Sheppard.
Disney casting directors complained they had trouble finding actors of Arabian or Indian descent who had the necessary acting and singing talent. However, the problem with the entire scenario is that there are multitudes of talented brown actors and actresses all over the world especially in Bollywood. So it defies logic that Disney has been unable to find someone to even play the role of palace guards.
When asked for a statement this is what Disney had to say:
“This is the most diverse cast ever assembled for a Disney live action production. More than 400 of the 500 background performers were Indian, Middle Eastern, African, Mediterranean and Asian.”
