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

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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.