Latino actress Eva Mendes was cast as Will Smith's love interest in the new movie "Hitch" to reportedly avoid upsetting race groups.

Movie bosses feared handing Smith a black leading lady would alienate white audiences and a white actress would upset African-American filmgoers - so they settled on a Latino, reported the Internet Media Database.

"There's sort of an accepted myth that if you have two black actors, a male and a female, in the lead of a romantic comedy then people around the world don't want to see it," Smith ("Independence Day, "Men In Black") was quoted as saying.

"We spend $50-something million making this movie and the studio would think that was tough on their investment. So the idea of a black actor and a white actress comes up - that'll work around the world, but it's a problem in the US."