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Raya Voice Casting Draws Criticism

Anticipation for Raya and The Last Dragon is growing after Disney released the official trailer, but the voice casting of the film is drawing criticism from many Asian Americans, CNN reports.

The film, which draws inspiration from Southeast Asian cultures, follows Raya as she brings together a group of warriors and con artists in her quest to find the last mythical dragon.

Kelley Marie Tran, who is Vietnamese American, voices Raya. Awkwafina, Gemma Chan and Sandra Oh all voice characters in the film, according to NBC News. However, despite a star studded cast of East Asian American voice actors, there are very few Southeast Asian Americans involved in the project.

Several people express concern over the lack of Southeast Asian American representation within the cast.

“I am actually very conflicted about the new Raya and the Last Dragon casting,” one person wrote on Twitter. “I love all those cast members. But basically everyone, except KMT is East Asian. Imagine how big it would be they actually casted Southeast Asian actors. SE Asian actors are sorely lacking in Hollywood.”

Another Twitter account pointed out that the film “put the whole region” of Southeast Asia “in a blender,” without acknowledging that each country in Southeast Asia is unique.

CNN reached out to Disney for comment, but has not heard back.

Raya and the Last Dragon will premier March 5 on Disney+.

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