Makeup Artists Accused of "Darkening" Actors' Skin in Adam Sandler Movie

BY Josiah HughesPublished May 1, 2015

The terrible story of Adam Sandler's new Netflix film The Ridiculous Six has gotten even more, well, ridiculous. We first learned of the controversial film when approximately one dozen native actors walked out on the shoot, in part because of its racist screenplay. Today, a new problematic suggestion has surfaced — the film's makeup department is allegedly darkening actors' skin to make them appear Native American.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke to an on-set pro (who chose to remain unnamed) who told the magazine that the makeup team has been using makeup to darken the skin of caucasion and Asian actors to make them appear Native American. They're also using makeup to change the skin colour of black actors.

Actress Allison Young corroborated these reports in an interview with MSNBC, where she said, "I'm full-blooded Navajo and they bronzed me. I was quite confused."

Since the news first broke, some on-set cellphone footage has surfaced. Though the audio is better than the video, it shows a producer arguing with actors over the film's depiction of native people. You can watch the clip below.

An unnamed representative from Netflix previously said, "The movie has ridiculous in the title for a reason: because it is ridiculous.... It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the joke."

As previously reported, the only other person speaking out in Sandler's defence is actor Vanilla Ice, who plays iconic humorist Mark Twain in the film.


 

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