USC Report: Banner Year For Female Actors Of Color, But Film Industry Only Paying “Lip Service” To Casting Of Other Underrepresented Performers In Leading Roles
16.02.2023 - 18:41
/ deadline.com
Female actors of color had a banner year in 2022, according to the latest report from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which found a “significant increase” in the number of top-grossing films with girls and women of color in leading and co-leading roles last year.
Overall, however, the report found that “the pace of industry change is certainly not a breakneck one,” and that any commitments the industry made to diversity and inclusion in recent years “were mere lip service when it comes to key roles on screen.”
The report found that in 2022, 16 of the 100 top-grossing films featured a girl or woman from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group in a leading or co-leading role. This was up from just 11 films in 2021 and from only one movie in 2007. The report, however, concluded that this was the “lone bright spot” in its findings.
“The progress for women of color in leading roles is encouraging,” said Dr. Stacy Smith, co-author of the report. “It’s past time for the film industry to recognize that stories about women of color have a place in theaters. Girls and women of color are 20% of the U.S. population, but the film industry has not ensured that this is what audiences see on screen. With effort and accountability, this threshold is one that not only can be achieved but easily surpassed.” Her co-authors are Katherine L. Neff and Dr. Katherine Pieper.
Last year, women of color outnumbered men of color as leads and co-leads in the 100 top-grossing theatrical films. “This increase is an important one,” the report says, “as women of color have consistently and significantly been underrepresented not only as leads/co-leads, but as directors, producers, as casting directors, studio executives, editors, composers,