American star Matt Damon defended his lead role in upcoming Hollywood film The Great Wall, saying that allegations of 'whitewashing', or the use of Caucasian stars over actors of different ethnicities, were unsubstantiated.

"Zhang Yimou called me and asked me to be in his movie," the Bourne actor said in Beijing, referring to the Chinese director who was also on the same panel.

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"When I think of 'whitewashing', I think Chuck Connors playing Geronimo... that's whitewashing and that's unacceptable," he told the press, using the example of the Irish-American actor who played the lead role in the 1962 biopic of the famed Apache Legend.

The fantasy monster movie set and filmed in China casts Damon as a British mercenary who goes to China to originally steal gun powder but leads Chinese troops against horrifying creatures.

"Of course, he is a foreigner. For the director, we never consider the race question first. We always think about the story first. If the story flows, if the story is good," Zhang told BBC News.

"Once people see that it's a monster movie and it's a historical fantasy and I didn't take a role away from a Chinese actor... it wasn't altered because of me in any way," Damon stated as he made clear to the press that the role was always intended to be European.

The controversy was sparked by actress Constance Wu who watched the 30-second trailer and tweeted, "We have to stop perpetuating the racist myth that only white man can save the world."

Numerous Hollywood movies have been banned from getting released in the mainland because of strict censorship laws. To neutralize this, American studios are co-producing big budget films with Chinese investors.

With an estimated budget of over $150 million, The Great Wall is the most expensive US-China production to date, a collaboration that is becoming gradually common these days. It highlights Zhang's trademarks of martial arts and revolves around the enigmatic origins on what the wall's original purpose was.

Joining the Saving Private Ryan actor are Willem Dafoe, Chinese stars Lu Han and Jing Tian, Hong Kong's Andy Lau, and Taiwan's Eddie Peng. Chinese cinemas will release The Great Wall on Dec. 16 followed by other countries, including the United States in February.

TagsMatt Damon, the great wall, china, whitewashing, Willem Dafoe, Lu Han, Jing Tian, Andy Lau, Zhang Yimou, hollywood