Before Rooney Mara was an Oscar nominee for Carol, she played Tiger Lily in Pan, last year’s little-loved Peter Pan origin story — a controversial choice, as Tiger Lily is Native American and Rooney Mara, for all her other splendid qualities, is not. Now, on the same day that a USC study has illuminated just how whitewashed Hollywood is, Mara has spoken out about the casting, expressing more regret for the whole situation. “I really hate, hate, hate that I am on that side of the whitewashing conversation. I really do,†she told The Telegraph. “I don’t ever want to be on that side of it again. I can understand why people were upset and frustrated.†Though Mara has no unkind words for director Joe Wright, she does admit that the casting process should have gone in a different direction: “Do I think all of the four main people in the film should have been white with blonde hair and blue eyes? No. I think there should have been some diversity somewhere.†At this, Charlotte Rampling was heard loudly complaining about racism against white pirates.
