History Main / PlaysGreatEthnics

* Mads Mikkelsen is Danish, but only when in Denmark. His perceived indeterminate ethnicity fits his role in ''CasinoRoyale'' as Le Chiffre is stateless according to IanFleming and "probably a mixture of Mediterranean with Prussian or Polish strains" and apparently has "some Jewish blood".

* [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193295/ Cliff Curtis]], a Maori from New Zealand, has played diverse ethnic roles including Latin American characters (a Colombian, Pablo Escobar in "Blow"; a Mexican in ''TrainingDay''), Arab characters in "The Insider" and "Three Kings", and the apparently all-American-with-an-Ukranian-name Reuben "Rabbit" Palchuck from the series ''Trauma''.

* Peter Stormare's DistaffCounterpart is Swedish-born actress Lena Olin. Has played a Frenchwoman in ''{{Chocolat}}'' (where, [[IronyAsSheIsCast funnily enough]], she's ''married'' to Peter Stormare's character) and ''{{Casanova}}'', a German in ''Film/TheReader'', an Egyptian in ''QueenOfTheDamned'', a Czech woman in ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'', and ex-KGB Russian agent Irina Derevko in ''Series/{{Alias}}''.

* Peter Stormare's DistaffCounterpart is Swedish-born actress Lena Olin. Has played a Frenchwoman in ''{{Chocolat}}'' (where, [[IronyAsSheIsCast funnily enough]], she's ''married'' to Peter Stormare's character) and ''{{Casanova}}'', a German in ''TheReader'', an Egyptian in ''QueenOfTheDamned'', a Czech woman in ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'', and ex-KGB Russian agent Irina Derevko in ''Series/{{Alias}}''.

* Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini covers all countries where a Romance language is spoken, preferably Mediterranean.

Often these actors were originally successful abroad before they were discovered by Hollywood. Might result in ClassicallyTrainedExtra. Some have achieved HeyItsThatGuy status.

* Indian-born American actor Erick Avari has made a career out of this: he's played British characters, Arab characters (even an ''alien'' arab in the original ''{{Stargate}}'' movie and the follow-up TV show), Egyptians, Russians, Spaniards, and so on. He's even occasionally played the odd American here or there. TheOtherWiki, in point of fact, says that he's "portrayed representatives of more than 24 different nationalities".

* Fred Armisen plays characters of nearly race on SNL, most notably Barack Obama.

** Similarly, BorisKarloff's swarthy looks had him playing Indians (both sub-Saharan and American), though less so once the sound era came in.

* Taika Waititi is Maori, but has played Indians, Romany, Vietnamese, and Inuit.

* ChristopherLee, though British-born, has played all sorts of foreigners (including Arabs and Chinese). His facility with languages may be a factor.

* Peter Stormare's DistaffCounterpart is Swedish-born actress Lena Olin. Has played a Frenchwoman in ''{{Chocolat}}'' (where, [[IronyAsSheIsCast funnily enough]], she's ''married'' to Peter Stormare's character) and ''{{Casanova}}'', a German in ''TheReader'', an Egyptian in ''QueenOfTheDamned'', a Czech woman in ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'', and ex-KGB Russian agent Irina Derevko in ''{{Alias}}''.

* Naveen Andrews is mostly known for playing an Arab in ''{{Lost}}''. Before, he did mostly his actual Indian ethnicity (such as ''TheEnglishPatient''), and also an African in ''MightyJoeYoung''.

* Sudanese-English actor Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (better known as [[DeepSpaceNine Alexander Siddig]]) is a preferred choice for characters from anywhere in the Arabic world, especially if you don't want a [[AcceptableEthnicTargets terrorist]].

* Naveen Andrews is mostly known for playing an Arab in ''{{Lost}}'. Before, he did mostly his actual Indian ethnicity (such as ''TheEnglishPatient''), and also an African in ''MightyJoeYoung''.

* Taika Waititi is Maori, but has played Indians, Romany, Vietnamese, and Inuit.

* AnthonyQuinn played Greeks, Portuguese, Arabs, Ukranians, Jews, Englishmen, Italians, Latin Americans, and just about everything else you could possibly think of. In reality, he was a Mexican with significant Irish ancestry (hence the name).

* Peter Stormare's DistaffCounterpart is Swedish-born actress Lena Olin. Has played a Frenchwoman in ''{{Chocolat}}'' (where, [[IronyAsSheIsCast funnily enough]], she's ''married'' to Peter Stormare's character) and ''{{Casanova}}'', a German in ''TheReader'', an Egyptian in ''QueenOfTheDamned'', a Czech woman in ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'', and ex-KGB Russian agent Irina Derevko in ''{{Alias}}''.

* Sudanese-English actor Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (better known as Alexander Siddig) is a preferred choice for characters from anywhere in the Arabic world, especially if you don't want a [[AcceptableEthnicTargets terrorist]].

* [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193295/ Cliff Curtis]], a Maori from New Zealand, has played diverse ethnic roles including Latin American characters (a Colombian, Pablo Escobar in "Blow"; a Mexican in ''TrainingDay''), and Arab characters in "The Insider" and "Three Kings".

* [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193295/ Cliff Curtis]], a Maori from New Zealand, has played diverse ethnic roles including Latin American characters (a Colombian, Pablo Escobar in "Blow"; a Mexican in ''TrainingDay''), and Arab characters in "The Insider" and "Three Kings".

* [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193295/ Cliff Curtis]], a Maori from New Zealand, has played diverse ethnic roles including a Colombian (Pablo Escobar in "Blow") and Arab characters in "The Insider" and "Three Kings".

** Alfred Molina (Italian, Spanish and English heritage) does all those plus Russian and Middle Eastern - when not portraying Americans or Brits.

* Cliff Curtis (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193295/), a Maori from New Zealand, has played diverse ethnic roles including a Colombian (Pablo Escobar in "Blow") and Arab characters in "The Insider" and "Three Kings".

* Italian actor Giancarlo Gianni covers all countries where a Romance language is spoken, preferably Mediterranean.

* Indian-born American actor Erick Avari has made a career out of this: he's played British characters, Arab characters (even an ''alien'' arab in the original ''{{Stargate}}'' movie and the follow-up TV show), Egyptians, Russians, Spaniards, and so on. He's even occasionally played the odd American here or there. TheOtherWiki, in point of fact, says that he's "portrayed representatives of more than 24 different nationalities".

* If you need an [[AllAsiansLookAlike Asian]] {{mook}} who can do stunts and martial arts, too, there's Al Leong.

* London-born actor Ritchie Coster (whose ethnic origins are Dutch) is dark haired, dark eyed, and has spent his career playing non-English characters of various types. He was The Chechen in ''TheDarkKnight'', Mister Zoric (a Hungarian) in ''LetMeIn'', Simon Matic in ''LawAndOrder: Criminal Intent'', Joey Sadano (an Italian) in ''American Gangster'', Jorgan Stern (a Pole) in ''LawAndOrder'', Fazal (a Saudi Arabian) in ''Traffic'', Nicolai Trepov (a Russian) in ''Hack'', and the list goes on and on and on. One can count the number of times he's played English-characters on both hands.

This refers to casting practice, and in the case of TropeCodifier Peter Stormare it has even achieved the status of CastingGag. It refers to "international" or "ethnic" - at any rate not American or British - actors who are considered to somehow look or be able to act so vaguely but conspicuously foreign that they can be used for any nationality. It's AsLongAsItSoundsForeign and GratuitousForeignLanguage applied to casting However, ButNotTooForeign is often in effect because you'll want someone who speaks good English (even though intentionally accented) and rather panders to [[ViewersAreMorons viewers' expectations]] than give an accurate portrayal of a specific ethnic identity which also means that the character's background might be very vague as long as it's foreign. Note that PlaysGreatEthnics can have the same UnfortunateImplications as MistakenNationality.