# Characters who have changed race from book to movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244 "2009-01-21T01:48:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/61 "2009-01-21T17:54:00Z")
[Ole Golly](http://purple-socks.webmage.com/char/olegoll.jpg) White? Looks to me. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/62 "2009-01-21T17:57:18Z")
Though didn’t Harriet’s friend, Janie, change races from white to black from the book to the film? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/63 "2009-01-21T18:04:30Z")
OK, now she looks like Lily Tomlin. ETA: Rosie should have played Mrs. Golly. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/64 "2009-01-21T18:20:51Z")
In the books _Cannery Row_ and _Sweet Thursday_, the character Hazel’s race is never specified, but one assumes that Steinbeck would have pointed out if he was black. He did not, so I always assumed he was white. In the 1982 movie of _Cannery Row_, however, Hazel is played by a black guy. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/65 "2009-01-21T19:12:07Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I strongly doubt that Nick Fury has looked like Sam Jackson for over 30 years. Actually… nope. He hasn’t. I think the point here is that his race wasn’t changed from the book to the movie. It was changed from one book to another book, and then the movie faithfully copied the second book. So Nick Fury doesn’t really belong in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/66 "2009-01-21T19:15:29Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > ETA: Rosie should have played Mrs. Golly. **Sigmagirl** , you so bad! But yeah, Ole Golly was pretty skinny, kind of sharp, bird-like. Rosie is the last person I would have cast as Ole Golly. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/67 "2009-01-21T19:27:47Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > And I am pretty sure that Lincoln Rhyme’s race is never mentioned in any of Jeffrey Deaver’s novels, but Amelia Sachs is frequently described as a tall redhead, so people assume. I’ve read all the books, but maybe I’m forgetting something. IIRC there’s no explicit reference to Lincoln Rhyme’s ethnic background. But there are things he says in several of the books that make it clear he’s white – comments about black behavior or physiology as opposed to white. I can’t give a specific example and it’s been years since I read any of the books. But I read them after _The Bone Collector_ was filmed and found it interesting at the time that Denzel Washington’s face was shown on the cover of the book yet the character was pretty clearly intended to be white. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/68 "2009-01-21T19:29:00Z")
[QUOTE=aruvqan] funky pinkeye blond look to norwegians [not sure how to explain it, but my ex hubby who was norwegian said that there was a genetic predisposition to an eye condition that made the eyelash beds tend to look irritated all the time. I can generally spot a heavy norwegian mix when i meet them] [/QUOTE] I’m sure I don’t need to point this out, but just for the record: most norwegian are not blonde. I’m not sure what you mean by the pinkeye thing. Could you link to some pictures of people with this look? (not snarky BTW, I’m curious). To the OP, I’m pretty sure both Tara and Eggs are white in the Sookie Stackhouse books, but they are both black in True Blood (if series count). ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/69 "2009-01-21T19:39:36Z")
The Ultimate Universe Nick Fury was actually created specifically to be [based on Samuel L. Jackson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Nick_Fury#Samuel_L._Jackson) with his permission to do so. I remember it mentioned in an interview ages ago. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/70 "2009-01-21T19:58:29Z")
Kingpin, in Marvel comic books, was white. But in the movie **Daredevil** , he was played by Michael Clarke Duncan. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/71 "2009-01-21T20:22:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > FWIW, David/Al Hedison, the only guy to play Leiter more than once, probably came closest to Fleming’s image of the character, although he shoulda been a bit more Southern. (The white actors who played him certainly weren’t identical – short, tall, bald, mop-haired…)d. Except that now Jeffrey Wright has played him twice, and I assume will continue to play him… ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/72 "2009-01-21T20:38:42Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Morgan Freeman, again, in _Bonfire of the Vanities_; in the book, the judge is jewish. Which doesn’t preclude his also being Morgan Freeman. > [@Leaper](#): > > So how do we know he was white? Just an assumption? I can’t remember him being physically described. But then, it’s been a while since I’ve read the book. Gray Grantham is never described in the book in racial terms. That’s one of the reasons why no one fought the idea of Washington in the role, just the idea of Washington in the role having a romance with Julia Roberts as Darby, which she later villified as antidiluvean, ridiculous thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/73 "2009-01-21T20:47:07Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I don’t know if this counts as significant, but in the Stephen King novela that the Shawshank Redemption was based on, the narrator, Red, got his nickname because he was Irish with red hair. In the movie, Morgan Freeman doesn’t have red hair. Although the movie did address this somewhat, in an amusing way … Freeman/Red is throwing a baseball in a scene early in the movie, and Robbins/Dufresne asks him, “Why do they call you Red?” Freeman pauses a moment, then says, “Maybe it’s because I’m Irish.” And gives a little nod of his head with a smile. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/74 "2009-01-22T01:18:13Z")
Isn’t his last name something like “Redmond” in the movie, hence the nickname Red? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/75 "2009-01-22T01:20:19Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Isn’t his last name something like “Redmond” in the movie, hence the nickname Red? IMDb has his name as Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/76 "2009-01-22T01:46:17Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > Captain Nemo is of Indian descent, as evidenced in the novel _The Mysterious Island_, the sequel to Verne’s more famous work. In the movies, however, he is almost invariably depicted as having classic European features. Ohhh That explains the LOEG Nemo’s turban. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/77 "2009-01-22T01:48:36Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Though didn’t Harriet’s friend, Janie, change races from white to black from the book to the film? This never got answered. There is an illustration of Janie on this page: [http://www.d.umn.edu/~csigler/harriet\_the\_spy.html](http://www.d.umn.edu/~csigler/harriet_the_spy.html) And here is the actress who plays Janie in the movie: [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0156345/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0156345/) So that’s a big ol’ yes. Again, sorry; can’t insert links from home. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/78 "2009-01-22T01:58:55Z")
WRT Ole Golly and Mrs. Golly: I just read Harriet the Spy to my son. IIRC, Harriet mentioned that Mrs. Golly was really doughy. Which doesn’t mean that her daughter couldn’t have had a darker complexion. But if there had been any notable contrast between Ole Golly and her mother (or her boyfriend for that matter), we can be _quite_ sure that Harriet would have noticed it and written it down. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > A minor one - I believe the bouncer in the book _Striptease_ was a white trashy sort. He was transmogrified into Marcellus Wallace for the movie. A pretty neutral change if you ask me, that only sticks in my head because it inexplicably bugged a friend of mine. It bugged me too, but not because of the race change. The character, Shad, was supposed to be really funny-looking. IIRC, he was uber-pale and super-tall and had no hair and was weird looking besides that too. Part of the dynamic of the relationship between Erin and Shad is that she’s so attractive and he’s so…not. It’s one of the ways that she’s shown to be a good person–she’s nice to Shad where others just blow him off, partially because of his odd appearance. Shad returns this kindness with immense loyalty. But Ving Rhames isn’t funny-looking. So, IMHO, it was a poor casting decision. The part of Shad could have been played by a person of any race, as long as he was a large and funny-looking example of that race. But they screwed up everything else in that adaptation, so it really doesn’t matter. I love Ving Rhames, so as far as I’m concerned, he improved the movie even if he was miscast. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/79 "2009-01-22T02:41:12Z")
Tara is white in the Sookie Stackhouse books, but black on **True Blood**. In the book **Dreamcatcher** , was Col. Abraham Curtis white? I saw the movie a few months ago, and some of dialogue suggested that Morgan Freeman’s character was Scottish or Irish; turns of phrase you don’t hear Americans use too often. Damn, I wish I could remember what they were. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/80 "2009-01-22T14:04:19Z")
On stage Robert Guillaume played [The Phantom of the Opera](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPUTe2IkBjM) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244.md?page=5)