50 Huge Movie Characters That Were Completely Miscast

Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of those beloved films, if not just for the iconic image of Audrey Hepburn with the cigarette holder. However, there is one aspect that is simply unforgivable.

Mickey Rooney appears as Mr. Yunioshi in what has to go down as one of the most appallingly offensive movie characters of all time. It is nothing less than utterly indefensible, to the point that the film has been met with multiple protests over the years.

There are movies on this list that were insensitive to say the least, with regard to race and heritage during the casting process, but this is on another level entirely. The portrayal of I. Y. Yunioshi plays up to multiple negative stereotypes, and would have been horribly racist regardless of who was playing the character.

However, the fact that it was Mickey Rooney, a Caucasian man who adopted such stereotypes in a bid to be funny, is heinous. Director Blake Edwards has since regretted the casting choice, but even in 2008, Rooney himself stood by both the decision and the performance, apparently not seeing what was clearly wrong with it.