[post_page_title]Carey Mulligan – Irene (Drive)[/post_page_title]
In the original “Drive” novel, the protagonist’s neighbor was a Latina named Irina. In the 2011 movie adaptation starring Ryan Gosling, director Nicolas Winding Refn cast white Englishwoman Carey Mulligan… and then promptly changed the character’s name to “Irene.” Refn wasn’t shy about explaining the thought process behind the change, either.
He couldn’t find a Latina actress that “clicked with (him) personally,” he said, until he happened to meet the blonde and blue-eyed Mulligan. “I wanted to protect her,” he continued, inadvertently implying something about Latinas in the process. He also added the story would be overcomplicated if the Driver and Irene had different ethnic backgrounds.
