A new study shows less than 5 percent of actors in top Hollywood movies are Hispanic, and that Latinas are more likely to appear partially or fully naked than women of any other ethnicity, reports the Associated Press.
The study was conducted by the University of Southern California's Annenberg school, and included the top 100 grossing films in 2013 while examining all 3,932 actors who spoke at least one word. They found that the make-believe world of movies generally did not reflect what America looks like in real life, AP said.
Of the actors in the movies that were part of the study, 74 percent were white, compared with the U.S. population that is 63 percent non-Hispanic White.
Hispanics were the most underrepresented group in films, with only 4.9 percent of Hispanic actors in movies, though they represent 17 percent of the nation, AP said. All this information comes despite the fact that Hispanics bought about 25 percent of all movie tickets and are more likely to go to the movies than any other group, the Motion Picture Association of America told AP.
Though 14 percent of black characters appeared in movies compared to America's 13 percent black population, 17 percent of the films studied did not have a single black speaking role, according to AP. Half of the films had a smaller percentage than the population, which suggests that a couple of movies with predominantly black casts balanced out the many movies with very few black actors.
2013 was called a banner year for black actors because of the success of "Fruitvale Station," "The Butler" and "12 Years a Slave," which made Steve McQueen the first black filmmaker to direct a best picture-winning film.
Despite Hispanic stars like Dominican Zoe Saldana, New York-born Puerto Rican Jennifer Lopez and Spaniard Antonio Banderas appearing on the big screen, there hasn't been any significant change in the number of non-white actors in top films since 2007, said Stacy L. Smith, director of USC Annenberg's Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative and author of the study.
Smith told AP the only obstacle here is immigration, adding that the number of black actors remained low at 6 percent.
"What we're seeing in the aggregate is very few folks not white and male being able to participate behind the camera. So the (on-screen) landscape remains primarily white and male. When you do have diversity behind the camera, things start to shift," she stated.
Asians had 4.4 percent of roles in 2013, compared to their 5.3 percent of the U.S. population; one percent of roles were played by "Middle Eastern" actors; less than one percent by Native Americans; one percent was played by "other," AP reports.
About 38 percent of Latina actresses appeared either partially or fully naked in films, compared to 32 percent of white females, 24 percent of black females and 18 percent of Asian females, the study found.
Roselyn Sanchez, a Puerto Rican actress, told AP, "Latinas have this stereotypes that we're sex symbols. ... that we walk sexy and (have) this flavor."
She didn't have an answer for why Hispanics have so few movie roles. "It's not about talent," she told AP.
And about 17 percent of Hispanic males were shown in "tight, alluring, or revealing clothing" – the most of any group. Fourteen percent of Asian males were shown in similar attire, as were 13 percent of black actors and eight percent of white actors.
Black males, at 68 percent, were more likely than any other group to be shown in a committed relationship, while Asian males were the least likely, at 29 percent.
Blanca Valdez, who runs a casting agency in Los Angeles, told AP it's difficult for Hispanics to audition for roles unless the call specifically asks for "diversity" or "multiethnic," which often keeps the Hispanic actor to play secondary roles such as the neighbor, lawyer, or bank teller.
Valdez told AP that some actors that have Hispanic last names but look white will only put their first names on their casting pictures just to get their foot in the door.
However, Valdez said commercials and television castings have been changing, with more calls than ever for Hispanic and "multiethnic" actors. She also said she hopes studios will "follow the money since Latinos are big movie fans."
"I hope this improvement continues because there's so much talent out there that doesn't get seen," she stated.
