Lupita Nyong'o and Adele Exarchopoulos were reportedly considered for the Native American princess role before it went to the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' star.
- Mar 14, 2014
AceShowbiz - Warner Bros. is facing backlash after Rooney Mara was tapped as Native American princess Tiger Lily. Many people criticized that the role should be given to a real Native American actress. Now, the studio addresses the controversy.
According to Variety, the character portrayed in the movie will be different than the one in Disney's stories. "The world being created is multi-racial/international - and a very different character than previously imagined," it's pointed out.
"Rooney Mara is an incredibly gifted, insightful artist. But come on. You couldn't find a Native American actress to play Tiger Lily?!?!" One Twitter user slammed. Another wrote, "Rooney Mara cast as Tiger Lily in new Peter Pan film because there are clearly no Native American actresses."
Before the plum role was handed to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)" actress, "the studio took on an exhaustive search in finding the right girl to play Lily looking at other actresses such as Lupita Nyong'o and 'Blue Is the Warmest Color' thesp Adele Exarchopoulos."
The film will revolve around the untold origin story set during World War II when Peter Pan was kidnapped by pirates and brought to Neverland. He and Captain Hook were still close before they got estranged later.
Who will play the title role is still unclear, but Garrett Hedlund is expected to play Hook and Hugh Jackman will portray Blackbeard. Joe Wright ("Pride and Prejudice") is on board to helm the project based on the script by "Ice Age: Continental Drift" writer Jason Fuchs.
A new casting report says "Four Lions" star Adeel Akhtar is tapped to play Smee, Hook's right-hand man. The character was previously played by Bob Hoskins in Steven Spielberg's 1991 live-action "Hook".
