MovieChat Forums > Wasp Network (2020) Discussion > Most actors aren't even cuban, aka "span...

Most actors aren't even cuban, aka "spanishwashing"

posted 4 years ago by Pesebrero (197)
7 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, I really liked this movie. But I think the producers went a little too far to pander a wider audience, by hiring an ensemble cast of well known actors from Spain and Latin America, the majority of which aren't cuban. If you're not from a spanish speaking country, you wouldn't notice at all. I myself am not cuban, yet I was able to recognize the original accent of the actors, and it felt a little off. The most clear cut case is Wagner Moura (brazilian), he did a good effort, but you can recognize his portuguese accent and a lot of his words were difficult to understand. Sbaraglia does pretty good at times, but his rioplatense accent sells him as an argentinian. Edgar Ramírez (Venezuela) and García Bernal (Mexico) both went for a more neutral approach, and in fact they were a lot less distracting than the others. Penélope Cruz perhaps did the best job by far, but probably a cuban could judge her accent a lot better than me.

[–] Pete314 (3018) 4 years ago

Yeah, I am going to boycott Star Trek. At least until they hire some real Klingons...
And now let's think about what "acting" means. Something like pretending to be someone you are not, right?

[–] Pesebrero (197) 4 years ago

As for your first statement, it's a fallacy and you know it (i.e. you can't get real klingons for a movie, but you can get real cubans). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

Regarding the second one, yes, acting is "pretending to be someone you're not". But, you also must do it convincingly. Otherwise, the "suspension of disbelief", that "magic" required for viewers to believe they are watching a real story, is lost, and you get completely disconnected from the movie.

Now, I'm not saying this movie has bad actors. In fact, they are GREAT actors, however, perhaps even to them is too difficult to portray accents from outside their country of origin. I myself went to drama school, and when we tried to do different spanish accents it was impossible to do them accurately in a consistent manner. Either you tend to confuse different foreign accents, or you make them too exaggerated, like a "cartoon" version of the intended character (think of Apu in The Simpsons, but also almost every russian character in a Hollywood movie).

[–] Pete314 (3018) 4 years ago

So what is better? To hire good actors who still don't manage to get the accent right? Or to hire bad actors who at least use the right accent? I prefer the good actors and - as neither English nor Spanish native - don't mind the accent that much...

[–] Pete314 (3018) 4 years ago

PS: Concerning the Klingons - at the Star Trek Discovery board you can find lots of complaints that the "new" Klingons don't speak as expected. As if anyone ever had the chance to find out how real Klingons speak...

[–] Pesebrero (197) 4 years ago

Why are you assuming that a cuban actor is a bad actor? There are superb cuban actors too. But I think they chose known actors just for marketing purposes.

[–] Pete314 (3018) 4 years ago

Okay, I have to admit that I probably don't know any Cuban actor. My fault...

[–] brux (14724) 4 years ago

They are actors. It would be too Cuban if all the actors were Cuban. Besides the truth about Cuba and the US, and Venezuela, and most of South America ... and now even North America is that they are just sports teams that the riff-raff are brainwashed into rooting for while a single monied elite run the whole show and don't care about anything the people do, unless they start to communicate or organize ... then the silver and lead comes out as John Perkins says - you either get co-opted or you get dead.