Hispanics underrepresented in Hollywood

A new study shows that less than 5 percent of actors in top Hollywood films are Hispanic, and that Latinas are more likely than women of any other ethnicity to appear partially or totally naked on screen.

The study of the top 100 grossing films in 2013, by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg school, found that the make-believe world of movies generally does not reflect what America looks like in real life.

About 74 percent of the actors in the study were white, compared with a U.S. population that’s 63 percent non-Hispanic white.

Hispanics, who are 17 percent of the nation but had 4.9 percent of film roles, were the most underrepresented group on screen. That’s despite the fact that Hispanics bought about 25 percent of all movie tickets and are more likely than any other group to go to the movies, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

Attendees at the Plaza Classic Film Festival in Downtown El Paso Monday were hard-pressed to name any Hispanic actors at first, finally coming up with Benjamin Bratt, America Ferrera, Salma Hayek, Rita Moreno and Selena Gomez.

After being informed about the study, filmgoer Patty May seemed disturbed.

“I think that’s too bad,” she said. “We have some talented, beautiful people.”

The program director for the film festival told ABC-7 he’s placing a greater emphasis on films from Mexico or with Hispanic themes this year.

“It’s a test to see how people embrace it,” said Doug Pullen. “There is a thirst for this and hopefully we find more resources so our palette will expand.”

Black characters represented about 14 percent of those in the films, which is comparable to America’s 13 percent black population. However, 17 percent of the films examined in the study did not have a single black speaking role, and half the films had a smaller percentage than the population, which indicates that a few movies with predominantly black casts balanced out the many movies with few black actors.

2013 was called a banner year for black actors, due to the success of films such as “Fruitvale Station,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and “12 Years a Slave,” which made Steve McQueen the first black filmmaker to direct a best-picture winning film.

Hispanic stars such as the Dominican Zoe Saldana, the New York-born Puerto Rican Jennifer Lopez and the Spaniard Antonio Banderas appeared on the big screen.

Yet there has been no significant change since 2007 in the number of non-white actors in top films, said Stacy L. Smith, director of USC Annenberg’s Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative and author of the study being released Monday.

“The only obstacle here is imagination,” Smith said in an interview.

She said that the number of black directors remained low – 6 percent of all directors in the study – and they were much more likely to use diverse casts. Hispanic directors were not counted.

“What we’re seeing in the aggregate is very few folks not white and male being able to participate behind the camera,” Smith said. “So the (on-screen) landscape remains primarily white and male. When you do have diversity behind the camera, things start to shift.”

The study examined all 3,932 actors who spoke at least one word in the top 100 films of 2013. USC did similar counts in 2007-2010 and 2012.

Asians filled 4.4 percent of roles in 2013, compared with their 5.3 percent of the U.S. population. One percent of roles were played by “Middle Eastern” actors, less than 1 percent by Native Americans, and 1 percent by “other.”

Almost 38 percent of Latina actresses appeared partially or fully naked on screen, the study said. That compared with 32 percent of white females, 24 percent of black females and 18 percent of Asian actresses.

“Latinas have this stereotype that we’re sex symbols … that we walk sexy and (have) this flavor,” said Roselyn Sanchez, a Puerto Rican actress who has appeared in such films as “Act of Valor” and “Rush Hour 2.”

She had no explanation for why Hispanics have so few movie roles. “It’s not about talent,” she said.

About 17 percent of Hispanic males were shown in “tight, alluring, or revealing clothing,” the most of any group. Some 14 percent of Asian males, 13 percent of black actors and 8 percent of white actors were shown in similar attire.

El Paso native and actress Yvette Yates is working hard to break the so-called glass ceiling in Hollywood. She was in El Paso last weekend to promote her latest film, “In the Blood,” which features a predominantly Hispanic cast.

Yates told ABC-7 she was surprised to hear of the low representation of Hispanics on film. But she added that she is a big advocate of promoting diversity behind the camera, which she feels will lead to diversity in front of it.

Yates spoke about an interaction she had with the director and producer of another film she was in, “El Gringo,” with Christian Slater.

“I spoke Spanish in it fluently, but when it came time for my character to speak English, they wanted me to do it with an accent,” she said. “I told them I grew up on the border and know people who speak both languages without an accent. And finally they were like, ‘Ok, go ahead,'” she added. “And when I spoke in English and Spanish it was with no accent.”

“I work really hard at my craft, and I don’t want to be defined as ‘The Latino one,'” Yates said.”I don’t want to be put in a box.”

Meanwhile, black males were more likely than those from any other group to be shown in a committed relationship, at 68 percent. Asian males were the least likely, at 29 percent.

Blanca Valdez, who runs a Hispanic casting agency in Los Angeles, said it’s difficult for Latinos to audition for roles unless the call specifically asks for “diversity” or “multiethnic.” That often keeps them out of secondary roles such as the neighbor, the lawyer, or the bank teller.

She said some actors with Hispanic surnames who look white will only put their first name on their casting photographs, just to get a foot in the door.

But Valdez said things have been changing rapidly in commercials and television, with more calls than ever for Hispanic and “multiethnic” actors. She hopes that studios will “follow the money” since Latinos are such big movie fans.

“I hope this improvement continues,” Valdez said, “because there’s so much talent out there that doesn’t get seen.”