Will Smith Faces "Colouring" Storm After Being Cast As Serena William's Father

7 March 2019, 08:47 | Updated: 7 March 2019, 08:51

An upcoming film telling the story of Venus and Serena Williams faces controversy after Will Smith is set to play their father Richard Williams.

Richard had no experience in tennis, but coached his two youngest children to be the best two female tennis players in the world.

Will Smith is reported to have been cast as Mr Williams in a biopic, but critics suggest that he is too light-skinned to play him.

One journalist wrote: "Colorism matters..love will Smith but there are other black actors for this role."

Mr Smith has not yet commented on the criticism.

Colourism is defined as discrimination against dark-skinned people in favour of those with lighter skin from the same race.

There were similar concerns in 2016 when Zoe Saldana, an actor of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, was cast to play Nina Simone.