10 Worst Examples Of Hollywood Whitewashing

10. Benedict Cumberbatch As Khan (Star Trek Into Darkness, 2013)

The second film in the Star Trek reboot series may have moved farther away from anything resembling Star Trek and closer to all-out visual effects headache, but critics and audiences alike were impressed by the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch as legendary Trek villain John Harrison.

No, wait, that’s not his name, is it? It's Khan - or to give him his full name, Khan Noonien Singh – who, in the original Star Trek canon, was an Indian Sikh. So, with all due respect to Cumberbatch’s talents, it doesn’t seem right that he be played by an actor whose very name has become an oft-parodied shorthand for Britain’s current school of white, upper-class actors.

Then again, Khan was played in the original Star Trek series by Ricardo Montalban, who was Mexican and who actually portrayed the character as Indian, whereas at least the Cumberbatch character was just a white guy with an inexplicably Indian name.

Then again, Montalban was cast in the ‘60s, when it seemed that any foreigner would do, and we should really be expecting better diversity from today’s Hollywood.