Who would you cast as Persian poet Rumi — Leonardo DiCaprio?
A planned film about 13th century Persian poet Rumi has some admirers of the Islamic theologian seeing red after the screenwriter and producer behind the movie said they'd like to cast Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.
In an interview in the Guardian, screenwriter David Franzoni and producer Stephen Joel Brown revealed their dream casting choice for the movie, with DiCaprio as Rumi. They also suggested that Robert Downey Jr. should play Shams Tabrizi, Rumi's spiritual mentor.
Although the film is purely theoretical at this point, many Rumi fans expressed outrage about the casting ideas, noting that neither Rumi nor Shams was white. The film industry has been criticized in recent years for "whitewashing," casting white actors in nonwhite roles.
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Though Rumi's exact birthplace is disputed by scholars, most agree he was born in either present-day Afghanistan or Tajikistan to parents of Persian descent. Shams was from Tabriz, a city that's presently in northwestern Iran.
On Twitter, several users blasted the idea that DiCaprio or Downey would be appropriate choices to play Rumi and Shams, some using the hashtag #RumiWasntWhite:
At Buzzfeed, Aisha Gani wrote, "If the Rumi movie gets made and stars white actors, it would hardly be a first for a film about a revered Middle Eastern figure."
She points to the movies "Exodus: Gods and Kings," "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" and "Gods of Egypt," all of which featured white actors portraying Middle Eastern roles.
No final casting decisions have been made for the Rumi movie, which, producers hope, will start filming next year.
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