Dwarves in movies

[Earl]

There's a bit of controversy at the moment surrounding the new Snow White film, Snow White & the Huntsman.

The seven dwarves are all being played by regular-sized actors, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost and three others. There's also a full cast of 'dwarves' in The Hobbit being played by regular-sized actors magically shrunken through the wonder of cinema.

This is what dwarf actor Warwick Davis says about it:

"Considering the vast experience of many short actors working in the film industry today, I think it inexcusable that in casting for Snow White & the Huntsman, producers did not utilise this pool of talent. My colleague Peter Dinklage won an Emmy for his performance in Game of Thrones, proving that short actors need roles that will not only challenge them, but allow them to express themselves as actors in their own right.

"It is not acceptable to 'black up' as a white actor, so why should it be acceptable to 'shrink' an actor to play a dwarf,"

I think he has a point.

[CambCelt]

I think he has a point.

Hmmmm, about half a point.

Anyways, the reasons given for the choosing of 'normal sized' actors might be too short, or be too complex and go right over his head.








Sorry.

[Earl]

See how you do in this dwarf quiz:

There's a bit of a hoo-ha going on at the moment with the recent release of fairy tale movie Snow White & the Huntsman, it seems they didn't cast any dwarves to play the seven dwarves. Despite a great selection of short-arsed actors in the world today the producers decided to shun the pint-sized performers in favour of miniaturising regular sized actors such as Ray Winstone, Nick Frost and Lovejoy.

This travesty has been compared with blacking-up the faces of white actors to play black characters, a practice which is very much frowned upon. If actors can simply be shrunk using clever special effects what future is there for the many dwarf actors in the business today?

This year also sees the highly anticipated release of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit which include six-foot tall comedian Billy Connolly playing a dwarf warrior. This miniaturising has been going on for quite some time, gauge what effect it is having by taking part in our little quiz and seeing how many of these famous dwarf actors you can name — the lower your score is the more it proves that dwarf actors are suffering due to current practices.

Name that dwarf! | The Morningstarr*