Tilda Swinton 'grateful' for Kevin Feige speaking out against Doctor Strange casting

Tilda Swinton is "grateful" for Kevin Feige speaking out against her casting as the Ancient One in 'Doctor Strange'.

The 60-year-old actress played the character in the 2016 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but the studio boss recently confessed that casting her as the Tibetan guru was a mistake and felt they could have avoided clichés if an Asian actor was hired for the part.

Tilda has now confessed that she had a "question mark" about taking on the role of Doctor Strange's mentor.

She told Variety: "I remember at the time having a question mark in my own mind, and being attendant to the public response to the idea that a Scottish woman will be playing this character, and being aware that there was no resistance at all – there was widespread welcome – which shifted at a certain point, for very good reason with which I had an enormous amount of sympathy."

Tilda accepted the criticism that came from fans and is glad that there is a conversation between filmmakers and the audience regarding the narrative of blockbusters.

The Oscar-winning star said: "The audience feels even more empowered to contribute to the narrative and to feel heard within the narrative, and that's a really healthy social development."

Kevin admitted that the studio thought they were being "so smart and so cutting edge" by casting a white actress and insisted that he has learnt from the experience.

He said: "We thought we were being so smart and so cutting-edge.

"We’re not going to do the cliché of the wizened, old, wise Asian man. But it was a wake-up call to say, ‘Well, wait a minute, is there any other way to figure it out? Is there any other way to both not fall into the cliché and cast an Asian actor?’ And the answer to that, of course, is yes."