Race Swaps

Character race changes from source material to screen adaptation, grouped by swap direction.

By Direction

Cultural Significance

Race Swaps by Year

All Race-Swapped Characters

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White → Black (18)

Character	Actor	Title	Role	Significance
Norville	Sam Richardson	Velma (2023)	lead	Major
Ariel	Halle Bailey	The Little Mermaid (2023)	lead	Critical
Annabeth Chase	Leah Sava Jeffries	Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)	lead	Major
Lord Corlys Velaryon	Steve Toussaint	House of the Dragon (2022)	lead	Major
Oscar Madison	Demond Wilson	The New Odd Couple (1982)	lead	Major
Felix Unger	Ron Glass	The New Odd Couple (1982)	lead	Major
Chiron	Glynn Turman	Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)	supporting	Major
Clarisse La Rue	Dior Goodjohn	Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)	supporting	Minor
The Queen	Noma Dumezweni	The Little Mermaid (2023)	supporting	Major
Angrboda	Laya DeLeon Hayes	God of War Ragnarok (2022)	supporting	Minor
Blue Fairy	Cynthia Erivo	Pinocchio (2022)	supporting	Minor
Dr. Liet Kynes	Sharon Duncan-Brewster	Dune (2021)	supporting	Major
Fringilla Vigo	Mimî M. Khayisa	The Witcher (2019)	supporting	Major
Lord Carlo Boreal	Ariyon Bakare	His Dark Materials (2019)	supporting	Minor
Gwendolyn Pigeon	Ronalda Douglas	The New Odd Couple (1982)	supporting	Minor
Cecily Pigeon	Sheila Anderson	The New Odd Couple (1982)	supporting	Minor
Thalia Grace	Tamara Smart	Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)	ensemble	Minor
Istredd	Royce Pierreson	The Witcher (2019)	ensemble	Minor

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White → South Asian (5)

Character	Actor	Title	Role	Significance
Velma	Mindy Kaling	Velma (2023)	lead	Major
Grover Underwood	Aryan Simhadri	Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023)	lead	Major
Yennefer of Vengerberg	Anya Chalotra	The Witcher (2019)	lead	Major
Sir Grimsby	Art Malik	The Little Mermaid (2023)	supporting	Minor
Vilgefortz of Roggeveen	Mahesh Jadu	The Witcher (2019)	supporting	Major

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White → Asian (2)

Character	Actor	Title	Role	Significance
Daphne	Constance Wu	Velma (2023)	lead	Major
Milva	Zhang Meng'er	The Witcher (2019)	ensemble	Minor

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Asian → Asian (1)

Character	Actor	Title	Role	Significance
Mr. Yunioshi	Mickey Rooney	Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)	ensemble	Major

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Indigenous → Indigenous (1)

Character	Actor	Title	Role	Significance
Jacob Black	Taylor Lautner	Twilight (2008)	supporting	Major

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Middle Eastern → Hispanic (1)

Character	Actor	Title	Role	Significance
Marisol	Mariana Treviño	A Man Called Otto (2022)	lead	Minor

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White → Hispanic (1)

Character	Actor	Title	Role	Significance
King Triton	Javier Bardem	The Little Mermaid (2023)	supporting	Major

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White → Mixed (1)

Character	Actor	Title	Role	Significance
Will Parry	Amir Wilson	His Dark Materials (2019)	supporting	Minor