White actor to play Michael Jackson in biopic, but who else has played ethnic?

British actor, Joseph Fiennes, has been cast as Michael Jackson in a biopic. But Fiennes is not the first actor to play a vastly different race to himself.

Source: Getty Images

British actor, Joseph Fiennes, has been cast as African American pop icon, Michael Jackson, in an upcoming biopic.

Fiennes is best known for his role on American Horror Story and for playing William Shakespeare in Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love, as well as being brother to Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes.

The biopic, titled Elizabeth, Michael, and Marlon, tells the tale of Elizabeth Taylor (played by Stockard Channing), Michael Jackson, and Marlon Brando (played by Brian Cox) and how their lives intertwine. The made-for-TV film will be produced by the UK SkyArts channel.

Reactions to the controversial casting choice have been varied, with many appalled at the inability of the films producers to cast an African-descent actor, whilst others see no issue with the choice.

But Fiennes will not be the first actor to play a race so different from his own.  Below are ten other actors who have played very different ethnicities to themselves on screen.

1. Angelina Jolie plays French Dutch Afro-Chinese-Cuban.

(Source: Paramount Vantage) Source: Paramount Pictures

In biopic, A Mighty Heart (2007), Jolie plays Marianne Pearl, a French journalist of mixed-race background. Pearl was born to a Dutch father and a Cuban mother of Afro-Chinese-Cuban descent. For the role, Jolie had to darken her skin, wear dark brown contacts, and curl her hair to emulate Pearl's ethnic features, for which she faced backlash.

2. Peter Sellers plays Indian.

(Source: United Artists) Source: United Artists

Sellers was known for his abillity to take on different accents and guises in his roles.  He played an Indian actor in The Party (1968) as well as an Indian doctor in The Millionairess (1960) opposite Sophia Loren.

3. Emma Stone plays Hawaiian.

(Source: 20th Century Fox) Source: 20th Century Fox

In the romantic comedy Aloha (2015), Stone plays Air Force captain Allison Ng.  Though Stone is of German and British descent, she plays a character with a Polynesian background.

4. Melanie Vallejo plays Chinese Australian.

(Source: Channel 7) Source: Seven Network

Australian television actress plays Asian Australian character, Sophie Wong, on Channel 7's Winners and Losers.  Vallejo is of Filipino, Spanish, and Ukranian descent and plays the only non-white lead character on the show.

5. Ben Kingsley plays French.

(Source: Paramount Pictures) Source: Paramount Pictures

In Hugo (2012), Kingsley plays a French filmmaker.  Kingsley himself is of half-Indian descent, most notably playing Gandhi in the 1982 biopic.  Since then, he has played several ethnically ambiguous role, or roles where the character's ethnicity was never identified.

6. Mickey Rooney plays Japanese.

(Source: Paramount Pictures) Source: Paramount Pictures

Rooney went "yellow face" in 1961's Breakfast in Tiffany's as I. Y. Yunioshi.  Rooney, who is of Scottish American descent, played the Japanese character in a way Hollywood would consider highly offensive in today's day and age.

7. John Wayne plays Mongolian.

(Source: RKO Radio Pictures) Source: RKO Radio Pictures

American actor Wayne played Mongolian emperor, Genghis Khan, in 1956's The Conqueror.  He donned a headband and Khan's iconic tapered moustache, however Wayne himself is of Scottish-Irish descent.

8. Rooney Mara plays Native American.

(Source: Warner Bros.) Source: Warner Bros.

Mara plays Tiger Lily in 2015 adaptation of Peter Pan called Pan. Tiger Lily is a Native American princess and daughter of the tribe's chief. Mara, however, is of European descent, with mostly Dutch and Germanic roots. 

9. Robert Downey Jr. plays African American.

(Source: DreamWorks) Source: Dreamworks

Tropic Thunder (2008) saw Downey Jr. his second Oscar nomination for his role as Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor who underwent skin pigmentation surgery to play an African American actor.  For the role, Downey donned a controversial blackface, however the film itself was considered a satire parody which softened the blow of controversy for viewers.

10. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays Persian.

(Source: CBS) Source: CBS

Mastrantonio is an Italian American actress who plays Nasreen "Naz" Pouran on CBS television show, Limitless. In one episode, the character's Persian identity drives the storyline when her daughter is kidnapped by Middle Eastern pirates.