The trailer for the upcoming spy film “The 355” hit the other day with a wealth of celebrated international actresses including Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger and Fan Bingbing all playing spies from various global agencies who team up.
The trailer also ignited a bit of controversy over one piece of casting. Chastain, Kruger and Fan all play spies who represent agencies from the countries of the actresses’ birth (US, Germany, China respectively). Nyong’o, who was born in Mexico, raised in Kenya and studied in the US, plays an operative from the United Kingdom.
It’s the slightly odd casting of Spanish actress Penelope Cruz as a Colombian woman however that has led to people taking offense, one op-ed piece summing it up as an issue of “not every Hispanic Person is Latino”. Chastain, who is also a producer on the film, has quickly responded and says in a statement (via The Playlist):
“When I had the idea of making this film, we didn’t have a script or financing. Penelope was incredibly helpful in this regard. After conversations with our consultant, I brought her the idea that she could play a fervent agent from Brazil. She mentioned that it wouldn’t be right for her to play a character from Brazil, as the majority language is Portuguese.
I realized that Colombia has a rich ethnic heritage, with approximately 80% of the population having European or mixed European heritage. We settled on a character who is a descendant from the colonization of Spain in the New World.”
The explanation may not be enough to deal with issues of culturally sensitivity over the film. Chastain herself has been a very vocal activist in Hollywood, campaigning for diversity and pay equity.
“The 355” arrives in cinemas on January 15th 2021.