Last week, Israeli actress Gal Gadot announced that she will be starring as Cleopatra in an upcoming biopic about the last Pharaoh of Egypt. The news inspired heated debates, with many accusing the Wonder Woman actress of whitewashing, White others pointed out that the late queen was ethnically White due to her Greek ancestry. This is not the first time a non-Egyptian actor has been cast to play an Egyptian character in a Hollywood blockbuster. Earlier this year, American actor Dwayne Johnson took to Twitter to share the first teaser for upcoming DC Extended Universe film Black Adam, which will see The Rock play the eponymous role: an Ancient Egyptian supervillain. This race row surrounding the casting of Gadot is the latest in a series of highly controversial decisions to prompt claims of whitewashing, most notably and (blatantly) casting Scarlett Johansson in the role of Motoko Kusanagi, a Japanese animated character, in the 2017 sci-fi film Ghost in the Shell, and Russel Crowe in the 2014 biblical drama Noah as the titular role. This latest controversy may appear a little less black and white, due to the layered nature of Egyptian…
