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‘Perfect blend’ to colour casting

Neighbours producer Susan Bower is adding more ethnic representation to Neighbours as part of a long term plan.

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Producer Susan Bower has commented on criticism that Neighbours has cast “too white.” She plans to introduce more ethnic diversity on the show, but not as a response to the criticism, but as part of a long-term vision she already had in mind.

‘‘I’ll be quite up-front — when I took over the show everyone was very white, including the extras,” Bower told the Herald Sun. ‘‘It was on my agenda (before the UK controversy) to change that.

‘‘I would like it (Neighbours) to reflect Australian society, but I can’t give Libby and Dan a black baby so it has to come in a natural way. I don’t believe in bringing in people for the sake of it. It has to be part of the story and it has to be believable.

‘‘I know we’re going to get flak about this gorgeous little Korean girl who’s going to be coming in next year, because you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

The show was recently one of several Aussie soaps lambasted by Britain’s racial equality chief Trevor Phillips.

Bower says the show will add 15-year-old Korean actor Hany Lee into the core cast as foreign exchange student Sunny Lee.

‘‘We’re going to get in trouble with that. They’ll say ‘oh, you reacted’ (to pressure from Phillips’ criticism). Well I don’t care what people say. That’s been the plan for a long time.”

Still, it is likely to need more than one actor and a few extras to truly illustrate change. The TEN soap has had plenty of “one-off” ethnic roles before including Michelle Ang and Dichen Lachman in recent years. It will only really demonstrate change if an ethnic family moves in. Whilst this happened a long time ago with a Vietnamese clan, it was short-lived. Ironically, its Vermont South setting that was home to an affluent middle-class Australia twenty years ago is indeed multicultural today with a significant Asian influx.

Meanwhile, East West 101 producer Steve Knapman from SBS cop drama agrees Australia has been too slow to reflect our diversity.

‘‘I think commercial stations are trapped in the past and need to open up a bit,” Knapman says.

‘‘Doing East West made us realise we ended up reflecting a truer picture of Australia.”

Source: Herald Sun

24 Responses

  1. Lucy – That comment is uncalled for and down-right rude.

    Is there a ‘blue print’ as to how a race should look? Stupid comments like that are only indication of how far your smarts extend.

    I’m all for free speech, but not in the way which demoralises another in an unnecessary manner.

  2. Sunny (Hany Lee) is so ugly.

    couldn’t they have at least found a slightly pretty asian, because that is not what an average looking asian looks like.

    ew, as if in real life, there is any way that someone like zeke would go for someone like her.

    she’s not acting material.

  3. All Australians know what cultural diversity we have. Just because it’s not reflected in Neighbours, doesn’t mean we are racist whatsoever.

    Since 1985, there’s been a considerable increase in the different cultures Australia has, and therefore the show should incorporate more characters with different ethnic backgrounds.

    I don’t think it’s stupid they in corporate a Korean girl, because half of the immigrants to Australia each year are from Asian countries; but they probably should incorporate a character of torres strait, kiwi or aboriginal culture because they are the people that have lived on this land for much longer then white or asian people.

    But that all being said, Australia is still a very much so, white-populated country. There’s no reason to put a bunch of people from different backgrounds on there, because how many streets across Australia do you actually find that many different ethnicities in? It wouldn’t be realistic.

    Whatever they decide to do though, Neighbours is still one of the greatest soap operas Australia has had to date.

  4. Wow, an asian girl? That’s stupid, Too White? Why don’t they chuck in an aboriginal girl.
    Sure it helps indentify australia’s multiculturalism… But she’s going to be an exchange student.
    So they might aswell make it an asian born in austraila.

  6. Why do we make such a big deal on racism in this country, in my opinon australians are one of the most laid back and un-racist people on earth. We already have given away a damn lot of our country as it is. We cannot even go into some parts in fear of being abused or spat on by another race yet its us Australians which are labelled as racist. Get over all this “too white” s**t in TV, if u dont like it go to your own country where its all what you really want to see. I feel its racist for people to say a show is “too white”! What a joke!

  9. the reason i (and people i know) watch shows like summer height high, we can be heroes, and to an extent kath and kim and PTTR. is because they are not afraid to be politically incorrect. . . . its refreshing. . . we live in a culture of incorrectness and its good to see it reflected on screen.
    all those ^^^ shows are sucessful, if the ratings don’t care. why should neighbors. after all its all about the ratings.

  11. Yeah, that’s it, Susan. Now let’s send Neighbours down the same boring, moralistic, multi-ethnic path which led A Country Practice to its doom. That should kill it off once and for all.

  12. I wanna see more than just Asian, I wanna see the whole gang. Hispanic (more), Curry, african, islander and especially middle eastern. I’ve had enough of them being shut out of almost everything in ‘white’ society.

  16. Thankgoodness she hit back to those fools who are blasting Neighbours for being ‘too white’. Its good that a Korean Girl will be on the show, that racial minister can shut up after it. They did what you asked for now move on.

  19. “but I can’t give Libby and Dan a black baby so it has to come in a natural way.”

    Is that simply an example or an accidental hint of a future plotline?

  20. I say keep it the way they are. and still think the University of Queensland studies get to you.

    next, the races not included will complain, then the included races will complain because their characters are not likeable enough. people will never be happy.

  21. Too much political correctness here, seriously, they commission studies to see if tv shows are ‘white’ enough? What next…. grass not green enough? Not enough variety in the wallpaper of the sets??

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