The Phantom Menace Star Defends Movie From Racism Accusations
Silas Carson, who played the role of Nute Gunray in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace defends the movie from the accusations of racism leveled at his character. Carson’s involvement in The Phantom Menace stretched far beyond just the Neimoidian leader, as he eventually played a total of four roles including; Neimoidian politician Lott Dodd who represented the Trade Federation at the Galactic Senate, co-pilot of Qui-Gon and Obi Wan’s ambassadorial transport ‘Radiant VII’ Antidar Williams and Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi. He also went on to reprise the roles of Gunray and Mundi in the remainder of the prequel films.
The role must have been somewhat troubling however, as the character of Gunray was accused of being a racist caricature fairly soon after The Phantom Menace released. Many saw him, and the Neimoidian race in general, as caricatures of Asian people and pointed to their costume as being similar to historical Chinese dress. Of particular issue however, was the way in which the Neimoidians spoke in stunted, nasal English, a racist stereotype often used to depict Asian people attempting to communicate.
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Carson however, sees it differently. In an interview with The Geeknd, he addresses the controversy, making a point to defend writer/director George Lucas from any racist accusations. The actor discussed the process that went into creating Nute Gunray's voice. Check out his comments in the space below:
«George came up with that. He was looking around for different kinds of accents that would work with these characters and I know there was a lot said after the phantom menace came out, a lot of people seemed to think that they were Japanese voices and there were
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