‘Power Rangers’ star defends show’s “representation” after writer calls casting Asian and Black actors as Yellow and Black Rangers a “mistake”
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers star Walter Emanuel Jones has responded to show writer Tony Oliver’s recent suggestion that it was a “mistake” to cast Asian and Black actors as the Yellow and Black Rangers.
The writer recently admitted in Investigation Discovery show Hollywood Demons that he regrets the casting decisions as they appeared to uphold stereotypes.
However, Jones – who portrayed Zack Taylor, the first Black Ranger – has defended the choice in a new social media post.
“Incredible how many media outlets picked this up… However while some choose to seek out the negative, I’ve always believed in focusing on the positive,” he wrote.
“I understand the impulse to address what might be seen as cultural insensitivity, but calling it a ‘mistake’ would dismiss the impact it had on countless people around the world who found inspiration and representation in TV’s first Black superhero — morphin’ into none other than the Black Power Ranger! It wasn’t a mistake; it was a milestone. It was an honour.”
He also shared a snippet of a previous podcast interview on Too’d In, where he shared: “The idea of me being in the black suit never bothered me.”
However, he admitted it was “odd” when Thuy Trang was cast as the Yellow Ranger after original star Audri Dubois left over a pay.
“When Thuy Trang came in, it was like she was an Asian girl in the yellow suit. It was like, that’s a little odd,” he said. “I think what happened was as kids got older, they went, ‘Hey that’s a funny thing,’ and they turned it into something that was never meant to be. People tried to make it into something that was prejudice.”
In his original interview, Oliver said “none of us [were] thinking stereotypes” over the casting, though when his “assistant pointed it out in a meeting one day”, he realised there was an issue, adding: “It was such a mistake.”
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers originally ran in the 1990s, sparking a number of spin-offs as well as merchandise.
A Netflix TV film called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always premiered in 2023 that featured Jones alongside fellow returning cast members David Yost, Steve Cardenas, Johnny Yong Bosch, Karan Ashley, Catherine Sutherland, Barbara Goodson and Richard Steven Horvitz.
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