He later teams up with the feisty Princess Tamina, played by Arterton, 24, as they seek a magical dagger that allows its owner to travel back in time. Gyllenhaal grew his hair for the part, while Arterton, who starred in the 2008 James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, practised horseback riding in Spain and dons Persian costumes. Hollywood has a long history of racial controversy stretching back to the 1930s when well known white actors routinely used face paint to play black characters. During the segregation era studios routinely considered race when making a film and even Lena Horne, Hollywood's first black leading lady, had her parts cut when movies films were shown in the South. In the modern era studios rely on only a small number of big budget blockbusters to make the majority of their profits and are reluctant to take risks on casting unknown ethnic minority actors. Chon Noriega, a professor of cinema at UCLA, said: 'It's what has become habitual practice.