Something got lost in translation.
Matt Damon admits to being stung by the “whitewashing” criticism over his casting in “The Great Wall” after the teaser trailer debuted in early August.
“Yeah that was a f—- bummer,” Damon told reporters at a press conference Saturday after the Chinese creature feature’s New York Comic Con panel.
“To me, ‘whitewashing,’ I think of Chuck Connors when he played Geronimo,” added Damon, who plays a Western warrior conscripted in a battle against monsters attacking the Great Wall of China in director Zhang Yimou’s epic.
“Look, here are far more nuanced examples of it and I try to be sensitive about it, but (fellow Western costar Pedro Pascal) called me and goes, ‘We are guilty of white washing, because we all know that only the Chinese defended the wall against the monsters when they attacked. ‘
“But we were wounded by it, we do take it seriously.”
Asian-American actress Constance Wu was among a number of critics of the film’s first teaser trailer, which focused heavily on Damon, when it landed in early August.
“Our heroes don’t look like Matt Damon,” the “Fresh off the Boat” star fumed on Twitter at the time, accusing filmmakers of “perpetuating the racist myth that only a white man can save the world.”
The controversy came at a time when the film industry on this side of the Pacific was already under fire for a perceived lack of diversity.
But Yimao feels the critics got it all wrong — the biggest epic of the “Hero” director’s career is all about bringing cultures together.
“The Great Wall” — the most expensive movie in Chinese history — is meant for a worldwide audience, having been entirely filmed in English, courtesy of a team of 100 translators. It aims squarely for international success.
“This kind of collaboration sets a milestone in China,” Yimou said through a translator Saturday. “If this movie succeeds it’s going to benefit the Chinese and American film businesses.
“It’s going to create a new opportunity to collaborate together and we’re going to work much more closely together in the future.”
“Other than that, there’s no pressure at all,” interjected a laughing Damon.
“The Great Wall,” which also stars Chinese actors Andy Lau and Tian Jing, opens in China in December and reaches theaters on these shores on Feb. 17, 2017.
“If people see this movie and feel there’s somehow whitewashing in this creature feature that we made up, I will listen to that with my whole heart,” said Damon. “I will think about that and learn from that.
“But I will be surprised if people see this movie and have that reaction. I will be genuinely shocked.”
