Whitewashing Be Gone: All Asian-American Cast for a Live Action 'Dragon Ball Z' Movie

Whitewashing has become the pariah of Hollywood and with Ghost in the Shell's release and the upcoming release of Netflix's Deathnote with casts lead by a white actress and actor in Scarlett Johansson and Nat Wolf we're only diving deeper into this controversy.

Why does whitewashing happen though? Well, simply it's just the business of Hollywood. Making movies is all about making money and one of the main reasons Scarlett Johansson was cast as Major in Ghost in a Shell is because of her star power and box office draw. According to Hollywood standards there are currently no Asian-American actresses that could match her star power.

The biggest problem with this thinking is obviously no Asian-American actors and actresses will ever reach that level of stardom if they cannot even be given roles meant for them. It's a never ending circle of discrimination.

Thankfully this issue is coming to light and Ghost in a Shell is losing money at the box office because of their mistake. Hopefully this will be the start to the end of this whole problem.

It inspired me to attempt to cast one of my favorite anime's of all time Dragon Ball Z. I'm going to use only Asian-American actors and actresses to prove that it is in fact possible to cast a whole movie with talented people who aren't white. If a amateur with limited resources can find quality actors that avoid whitewashing then anyone in Hollywood should be able to.

Ki Hong Lee as Goku

Ki Hong Lee is an actor whose most notable role is playing Minho in The Maze Runner series. In this he was a leader of the maze group who took pride in his ability as a "runner" and was clearly a strong stand out among the talented cast.

It was in the Netflix series The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt where I saw him play the comedic role and act with the same child like charisma that Goku oozes with. He'd be able to give Goku a a comical side along with the serious tone during fights. I'd like to see him bulk up a bit more, but Lee is more then capable of taking on this leading role.

Ludi Lin as Vegeta

Lin is coming off a breakout role in Power Rangers as Zack the Black Ranger. In it we saw him play a excentric teenager with a headstrong personality with a bad boy reputation. Anyone who plays Vegeta must be able to convey these things, because Vegeta is the ultimate bad boy.

Another thing any actor who plays Vegeta must have is a very muscular body and strong brow and as you can see from the picture above, Lin's brow game is on point and In case you've never seen a shirtless picture of Lin...

I'd say he's plenty buff for the role.

Steven Yeun as Krillin

The Walking Dead star may not be the ideal height for Krillin but lets be honest, who is? Definately not anyone that a non-hollywood talent scout would be able to find. He is great at playing the sidekick role as he did to Andrew Licoln's Rick. His innocent demeanor and fearful sensibility (early on in The Walking Dead) make him a great acting fit.

Like I said, his height is not ideal, but this would be a big name to add to the cast and at 5'9 he's still considered to be on the shorter side. I think that his lean stature would also be a able to make up for Krillin's larger height in the movies which would give him a disadvantage in fighting. I wonder if he'd be willing to shave his head?

Brandon Soohoo as Gohan

If Soohoo looks familiar it's because he played the warlord Tran in Tropic Thunder. Tran was a boy who was so angry it was terrifying, but Soohoo has taken on much lighter roles since then. Gohan is a kind character who can go off at a moments notice to become one of the most powerful charcaters in the show. Something that I feel Soohoo would be proficient at.

At 21, Soohoo is not the ideal age, but he was the best fit at such a young age I could find. He could play a charcater young enough to be 15-17 though and to me that is a more realistic take on a young man defedning the galaxy as a fighter as compared to the 10-year old in the anime.

Olivia Munn as Bulma

For anyone who didn't know, Munn is half Vietnamese and the perfect fit for Bulma. Sexy, smart, and rage prone; all these things describe both Bulma and Munn's acting range.

Daniel Henney as Tien

In the early days of Dragon Ball and to the present, Tien can be a bit of a prick. He became a good guy and borderline anti-hero, but his personality remained as a loner outside of his friend Chiaotzu. Henney can play a bad guy like he did in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the good guy like he did in Big Hero 6 as big brother Tadashi Hamada.

Jason Momoa as Yamcha

Before anyone gets too upset, I'm aware that Momoa is half-Hawaiian which does not make him Asian but actually a Pacific Islander but he'd would make such a good Yamcha that I had to put him on the list.

Momoa is a badass and Yamcha is a wannabe badass. While Yamcha's character doesn't fit exactly with Momoa's niche, the looks are there and I think that Momoa could give Yamcha the edge that his character was missing in the series.I was originally going to cast him as Vegeta but at 6'4 he was standing a bit too tall for our favorite short Prince.

Constance Wu as Chichi

Constance Wu can play the role of a typical housewife but she has the talent to do much more with a charcater like Chichi. Having a short temper comes with Goku's wife and her charcater from Fresh off the Boat reminds me of a more mild tempered Chichi.

George Takei as Master Roshie

No offense to the Star Trek legend, but I've always found Takei to be a master at playing the creepy old man and that's essentially Roshi's character. Maybe we'd need someone with a bigger martial arts background, but I still like the fit.