The Wheel of Time stars talk cast diversity

High fantasy stories aren’t traditionally known for their racial diversity. The Lord of the Rings sorta set the template for that way back when and folk have more or less followed it ever since.

But things are changing, not only because a new crop of fantasy writers are telling different sorts of stories — look out for HBO’s adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death coming down the pike — but because Hollywood has gotten more comfortable with hiring people of color in prominent roles. The Wheel of Time on Amazon is a good example of that. Between Daniel Henney (Lan), Madeleine Madden (Egwene), Marcus Rutherford (Perrin) and Zoë Robins (Nynaeve), there are a lot of people of color in the main cast, and considering how many characters there are in Robert Jordan’s book series, we can expect a pretty diverse show overall.

Several of the actors talked for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation about how The Wheel of Time is changing the game. “When I was just starting my acting journey in the States… I guess all I can say is, for Asian actors, I think the door was slightly ajar, and I feel like it’s just open now, which is really beautiful to see,” said Henney.

"Growing up in a very small, Midwestern town, my mom and I being the only Asian people in my hometown… You know, I was just like any other kid. I’d ride my black Lab, and I’d make a sword out of two tree branches and pretend I was a king, and there was a part of me that, when I became an actor, I kind of had to put that away, thinking that I could play something that amazing. I just never thought I’d have the opportunity to play a king. An uncrowned king. And to speak in a sometimes questionable English accent."

The Wheel of Time casts actors “because they are the best portrayal of the characters”

Madden also reminisced about her early, discouraging acting experiences. “When I was starting out, and I was a teenager, I expressed to someone in the industry that I wanted to start taking dialect sessions and coaching, and I was told, ‘Oh, you would never need to do that, because you would never get a job out of Australia.'”

The Wheel of Time is part of a crop of new shows that will hopefully help stamp out that mindset. “Particularly with this show, people have been cast because they are the best portrayal of the characters that the showrunners and producers have found,” Madden said. “We’re not ticking a box.”

You can watch The Wheel of Time season 1 on Amazon Prime Video right now, and there’s a second season already on the way.

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h/t CBR