Disney casts Chinese actress as Mulan
Disney has cast Chinese actress Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu, in the titular role of a live-action Mulan film, due for release in 2019. The casting choice comes after Disney's year-long, global search for the right ethnically Chinese actress to play the role.
The past few years have seen increasing scrutiny of Western films which cast white actors and actresses into non-white character roles. With this casting choice, Disney has avoided that scrutiny and accusations of 'whitewashing', although media reports state that Disney always intended to cast an ethnically Chinese actress. Chinese audiences know Liu as a very bankable star, but Western audiences have only caught a few glimpses of her in supporting roles, like in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) which also starred Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
Liu, who speaks fluent English, is a strategic choice, sure to draw in Chinese audiences who might otherwise shrug off yet another film based on Chinese folk stories. In the rest of the world, the 1998 animated Mulan film has a cherished place in everyone's childhood, which ensures that a live-action adaption will print money.
The live-action Mulan will be directed by Niki Caro (The Zookeeper's Wife) and will blend elements of the 1998 animated film with the original 6th century 'Ballad of Mulan'. The most notable difference between the two is the ballad's lack of love interest for Mulan, because she is a strong and independent woman who 'don't need no man.' Except her father, for whom she's willing to dress up as a man and go to war for.