10 Actors Who Thought OTHER Actors Were Better For Their Role

Though Breakfast at Tiffany's is undeniably one of the most iconic rom-coms of all time, a dark cloud nevertheless hangs over the movie due to the unfortunate casting of Mickey Rooney as Holly's (Audrey Hepburn) Asian landlord I. Y. Yunioshi.

While the character is written as a broad Asian stereotype, this is made many measures worse by the fact that Rooney, a white man, wears makeup and a prosthetic mouthpiece to more convincingly resemble a caricature of an Asian man.

In more recent years the film has been re-evaluated by audiences, with Rooney's performance being singled out as a classic example of both whitewashing and racism in Hollywood.

Decades after the movie's release, a pained Rooney acknowledged the harm that the role caused, ultimately regretting that Yunioshi wasn't played instead by an Asian actor. He said:

"I wouldn't offend any person, be they black, Asian, or whatever…It breaks my heart. [Director] Blake Edwards…wanted me to do it because he was a comedy director. They hired me to do this overboard, and we had fun doing it...Looking back, I wish I had never done it…and I would give anything to be able to recast it, but it’s there."

Though simply recasting the role with an Asian actor wouldn't have immediately rendered the stereotypical character acceptable, it certainly would've stripped away the most problematic aspects.

As it stands, Mr. Yunioshi remains a baffling asterisk on Rooney's widely celebrated career, albeit one he at least appreciated was troubling in retrospect.