# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![welby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@welby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/welby)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/81 "2009-01-22T14:28:33Z")
Another Chrichton book, The Lost World, the character Kelly goes from white to black. ---
**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, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/82 "2009-01-22T17:54:21Z")
> [@welby](#): > > Another Chrichton book, The Lost World, the character Kelly goes from white to black. Interestingly, the same actress who played Kelly also played Janie in the Lost World. Who also went from white to black. ---
**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 23, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/83 "2009-01-23T13:18:00Z")
I cannot let this thread go on without mentioning “Smallville.” Not only did Pete Ross change from white to black, but John Jones (Martin Manhunter) changed from _green_ to black. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/84 "2009-01-23T17:21:38Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > In Tom Clancy’s **The Hunt for Red October** the pivotal character of sonar tech Jones is not specified to be black, but Courtney B. Vance played him in the movie. Given the nature of the role, a black sonarman on a US nuclear sub, and when the book was written, the mid-eighties, this character being black would have been unusual and worth mentioning. > Depressing thought for the day: The film Hunt for Red October came out _ **twenty years ago!!!** _ wow really? 2 of the sonar girls on the USS Spadefish were black, and that was the 80s. I never knew that they were unusual. Though of all my favorite guys on the boat 2 were blacker than the proverbial ace of spaces, southern and great fun at boat parties as they both could cook like nobodys business. What Monday could do with basic omelette makings was amazing. Both of them were highly qualified and trained personnel. [subs dont really have space to carry people who cant function in their position] ---
**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 23, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/85 "2009-01-23T18:57:21Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Interestingly, the same actress who played Kelly also played Janie in the Lost World. Who also went from white to black. Er, which is to say, Janie in Harriet the Spy. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/86 "2009-01-23T23:42:21Z")
The character Briareos Hecatonchires in the Appleseed manga and movies. If I recall correctly he was a black man in the manga _(I recall the author saying editors hated him using black characters because they took more ink to colour!)_ while in the movies he is revealed to have been a very light skinned Asian or at least not black before his cyborgisation. I wondered why they made that change. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/87 "2009-02-02T23:38:20Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > Yes but there are obvious physical characteristics that differ between Chinese and Japanese people. You can’t look at a Caucasian person and say “Oh they’re Irish/Russian/German/etc” But you can look at an Asian person and say “Oh they’re Chinese/Japanese/Korean/etc”. Granted many Americans can’t tell unless they see the person’s name but that doesn’t mean physical differences don’t exist. There are HUGE differences across “white” people. Irish, Russians, Germans, French, Italians, Poles, Scandinavians etc. have disparate general types and there are also some differences within the national groups. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/88 "2009-02-03T00:03:41Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > 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. “Red” used to be a not-uncommon nickname for black men with a reddish skin tone. Red Foxx is probably the most famous example. Malcolm X was also known in his youth as “Detroit Red”. Looking at Google Images I see some photos where Freeman looks to be of a reddish complexion, although in others he doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/89 "2009-02-03T01:14:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Johnny Rico in **Starship Troopers** was Filipino in the original novel (Samuel R. Delany once described how inspired he felt when he discovered the hero had dark skin). The movie had him played by a white actor. However, since the movie was such a wretched trashing of the original, this particular element was overlooked. Oh, and while we’re on the subject: – besides the book title, Johnny, and his science-geek high school friend, plus the vague concept of social-insect-like enemy aliens, the one other element salvaged from the book as it was gutted and offered on the altar to the great god Bad Taste was Dizzy Flores. Strangely enough, though, the boy who fought alongside Johnny in the book had sexual reassignment surgery before reporting to the movie set as Johnny’s female squad- and bed-mate. I consider this one of the director’s finest symbolic touches: clearly Dizzy’s sex change symbolizes the emasculation of Heinlein’s novel! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/90 "2009-02-03T15:21:50Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > In Tom Clancy’s **The Hunt for Red October** the pivotal character of sonar tech Jones is not specified to be black, but Courtney B. Vance played him in the movie. Given the nature of the role, a black sonarman on a US nuclear sub, and when the book was written, the mid-eighties, this character being black would have been unusual and worth mentioning. > > OTOH the character’s race, black or otherwise, wasn’t really essential to anything in the story so Clancy didn’t need to specify it. When the film came out and Clancy first met Vance he joked, “I had no idea Jonesy was black!” to which Vance replied, “He is now!” > > The Jonesy character has a small cameo in Clancy’s **Sum of All Fears** novel which came out _after_ the Red October film. I kinda of though he may have put some subtle references to him ‘now’ being black in the Jack Ryan universe. Oh, and let’s all pretend the film of SOAF doesn’t exist. > > Depressing thought for the day: The film Hunt for Red October came out _ **twenty years ago!!!** _ CIA Deputy Director James Greer isn’t specifically described as white in the book, but he’s a “Downeaster from Maine”, who was a submarine officer right after WWII, and later became a sub commander, then an admiral. Given that blacks were basically restricted to service roles in the Navy back then, it’s extremely unlikely that the character could have been black, but he’s ably played by James Earl Jones in three movies. I have to agree with **aruvqan** on Jonesy though - there’s nothing remarkable about a black sonarman second class in 1984. Of course, he’s described as having a “placid face and sad brown eyes”, which Vance doesn’t really match. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/91 "2009-02-03T19:45:31Z")
“Hud”: Alma was black in the book “Horseman, Pass By” and made Hud’s assault on her more viscious. (The movie at times danced around it being an affair.) (Lot’s of other changes, Hud’s mom was alive, etc. But kept some dialogue intact. Such as Hud’s suggestion about what to do about the sick cattle.) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/92 "2009-02-03T21:08:37Z")
Bernie Rodenbharr not only changed race but also gender when Whoppie Goldberg played the part in the movie _Burgler_. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/93 "2009-02-03T22:25:37Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Barney Matthews, the orderly who supervised Hannibal Lecter during his years in the mental hospital, is played by Frankie Faison, a black actor, in both **The Silence of the Lambs** and **Hannibal**. Neither novel describes the character as black; other characters, like Ardelia Mapp and Evelda Drumgo are clearly described as black. Harris, like many authors, writes all his characters as default white people unless otherwise specified. > Race aside, Frankie Faison doesn’t match what description of Barney that Harris does give. Notably, Faison isn’t muscled like a bodybuilder. I think you’re wrong about this, but I’ll have to check. I read the book long before I saw the movie, and I had the definite impression that Barny was black. But Harris is often parsimonious with physical descriptions of characters, so I can easily see it being missed with only one reading. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/94 "2009-02-03T23:56:42Z")
They’re not books, but film versions of Shakespeare’s plays often have black actors playing white characters. It’s not something anyone (well, almost anyone) would be bothered by except for changing the races in Othello or Merchant of Venice, unless they had a specific reason for doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/95 "2009-02-04T00:06:33Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > They’re not books, but film versions of Shakespeare’s plays often have black actors playing white characters. It’s not something anyone (well, almost anyone) would be bothered by except for changing the races in Othello or Merchant of Venice, unless they had a specific reason for doing so. Somone–possibly Patrick Stewart–once starred in a race-reversed version of Othello. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/96 "2009-02-04T00:38:14Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Somone–possibly Patrick Stewart–once starred in a race-reversed version of Othello. That would come under ‘having a specific reason to do so.’ ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/97 "2009-02-04T02:26:06Z")
I came into this thread expecting to read about dwarves that had inexplicably become elves in the movie version. Possibly I read too much fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/98 "2009-02-04T07:17:35Z")
**Man On Fire** cast Denzel Washington as Creasy. [In the novel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_Fire_(novel)), Creasy was a former Legion member turned mercenary who fought in several bush wars in Africa. He was notable for being one of the few white guys who not only survived but thrived in Zimbabwe and Kenya. There are a few times where he has to blend into a crowd when tailing someone in Europe. Creasy is _not_ a black dude. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/99 "2009-02-04T17:35:58Z")
James Earl Jones’s reclusive author character in _Field of Dreams_ had been specifically J.D. Salinger in Kinsella’s book, _Shoeless Joe_. Other than the obvious differences, though, there were no obvious differences between the two. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244/100 "2009-02-04T19:15:41Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > Yes but there are obvious physical characteristics that differ between Chinese and Japanese people. You can’t look at a Caucasian person and say “Oh they’re Irish/Russian/German/etc” But you can look at an Asian person and say “Oh they’re Chinese/Japanese/Korean/etc”. Granted many Americans can’t tell unless they see the person’s name but that doesn’t mean physical differences don’t exist. I’m Black and I can look at certain Caucasian people and pretty much can tell if they’re Italian American or Irish American. I can see differences in certain Asian sub-groups (my mom’s family is Filipino) but I took an online test a while back and I didn’t do well in distinguishing Chinese vs. Japanese vs. Korean faces. Can you tell different Black groups? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-have-changed-race-from-book-to-movie/482244.md?page=6)