(CNN) The director of "Annihilation" is refuting claims his new movie "whitewashed" characters and said there was "nothing cynical and conspiratorial" in the casting of the sci-fi drama. The film, based on the first novel in Jeff VanderMeer's "Southern Reach" trilogy, stars Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh. In the "Annihilation" novel, Leigh's character is described as being half-Native American. The film is just the latest project criticized for hiring white actors to play ethnic roles. "There was no studio pressure to cast white.

Source: CNN February 15, 2018 18:10 UTC