The Lilo & Stitch live-action movie has just cast its Nani, and fans online are calling out the decision for colorism. The upcoming film is the latest in Disney’s line of live-action updates, this time bringing to life their Hawaii-set 2002 film Lilo & Stitch, which follows an outcast young girl named Lilo who befriends a chaotic blue alien. One of the major characters in the film is Lilo’s older sister Nani, who has become her guardian after the death of their parents.Recently, it was announced that Sydney Elizebeth Agudong had been cast as Nani in Lilo & Stitch. In the wake of this decision, many fans took to social media to complain that the casting decision showed colorism because the original design for Nani has much darker skin than the actor. While many are keen to point out that this is not the fault of Agudong herself, this points toward a larger trend in Hollywood casting that should be addressed. Check out select fan reactions below:
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As Hollywood Moves Toward Diversity, Colorism is Still Rampant
This incident is far from the first time that Hollywood colorism has been called out by fans. While the Hollywood gears are slowly turning toward more diversity in casting, they are still stumbling into various pitfalls along the way. This includes a major habit of casting actors who represent the character’s race but with the lightest skin tone possible, as these commenters are pointing out.
Many studios are starting to move away from the controversial casting decisions of the past. Some of these missteps include the recent choices to include nearly all-white casts in films like 2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings or 2016’s Gods of Egypt. In the wake of this, because the lead characters in Lilo & Stitch are native Hawaiians, it is especially important to viewers for the casting to represent them properly.
The casting departments are making an effort with their upcoming Disney live-action remakes. This includes race-blind casting for iconic princesses Snow White and Ariel and casting Hawaiian actors for the lead roles in Lilo & Stitch. However, because established characters like Nani have skin tones that are already well-known to fans, many more factors need to be considered in this process.
