Producers reportedly considered using CGI to 'shift' white actors' ethnicities in anime adaptation

Film studio supposedly considered using technology to alter white actors to look Asian.

(Image credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

published 15 April 2016

Casting actress Scarlett Johansson to star in Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks' adaptation of anime series Ghost in the Shell brings up obvious questions about whitewashing. But a new revelation takes that allegation even further. ScreenCrush reports that producers apparently toyed with using CGI to alter certain white characters' appearances in post-production to make them appear "more Asian."

Ultimately, the visual effects tests were rejected upon development and review. Though Paramount acknowledges a test was "done related to a specific scene for a background actor," the company maintains that "absolutely no visual effects were conducted on Scarlett's character and we have no future plans to do so." Other sources with inside knowledge tell ScreenCrush that the tests were indeed done on Johansson's character, though without her knowledge.