And they couldn’t find an actor of Russian ancestry to play the Kurgan… but they did have an actor of Russian ancestry play another famous fantasy Spaniard swordsman—Inigo Montoya—a year later. And they cast Connery as a Russian in The Hunt for Red October a few years after that. (And meanwhile, the actor of Spanish ancestry who would have been appropriate for the role of Ramirez in Highlander—Ricardo Montalban—was cast as a man of Indian/Sikh ancestry in The Wrath of Khan.)
I don’t think casting actors of appropriate ethnicities for their roles became a big factor in Hollywood until the 90s.
Connery, Brown, Montalban, and Patinkin all did great in their roles, though.
And they couldn’t find an actor of Russian ancestry to play the Kurgan… but they did have an actor of Russian ancestry play another famous fantasy Spaniard swordsman—Inigo Montoya—a year later. And they cast Connery as a Russian in The Hunt for Red October a few years after that. (And meanwhile, the actor of Spanish ancestry who would have been appropriate for the role of Ramirez in Highlander—Ricardo Montalban—was cast as a man of Indian/Sikh ancestry in The Wrath of Khan.)
I don’t think casting actors of appropriate ethnicities for their roles became a big factor in Hollywood until the 90s.
Connery, Brown, Montalban, and Patinkin all did great in their roles, though.
They used to cast actors of appropriate skill
FTFY, they still do, but they used to as well.
Imagine your selling point being good at acting and not your nationality. Unbelievable. /s