Latest news with #UCLAHollywoodDiversityReport
NBC News
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Constance Wu says she's worried about backsliding of Hollywood diversity amid DEI rollbacks
Actor Constance Wu is back on the big screen with her first role in three years. Wu stars alongside Naomi Watts and Bill Murray in 'The Friend,' a feel-good dramedy about a writer who adopts a Great Dane that belonged to her late friend and mentor. The movie will be out in theaters on March 28. It's a lighter role, but she's also sharing some heavier thoughts. The 'Crazy Rich Asians' and 'Fresh Off the Boat' star said she's worried about potentially 'repressive and backward' steps related to diversity in Hollywood amid all the larger national rollbacks of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. 'I have noticed that with recent TV and movies I've seen, representation is a little less important when it comes to casting,' Wu said. 'This could be good in terms of focusing on story and characters, [but] it could be bad in terms of people reverting to limited imaginations of what story and characters could be.' She said she specifically questions the idea of 'authenticity' as a reason to sidestep diversity. 'What does authenticity mean? It means the truth, and if you're really an artist then you can find the truth in any circumstance, any character, any face or any article of clothing. How much do you want to challenge yourself? Sometimes people don't like to be challenged,' she said. The latest annual UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report showed that the white share of all film roles increased from almost 60% in 2023 to 67% the next year, while other race groups and ethnicities were still underrepresented. For example, Asians make up only 5.5% and Latinos 3.6%. This trend is further reflected in other aspects of Hollywood, as only 1 in 10 theatrical film writers are people of color and only 2 in 10 theatrical film directors are people of color. Wu made her Hollywood breakthrough with the 2018 rom-com 'Crazy Rich Asians,' which grossed $239 million at the box office worldwide. The success of the movie ushered in a new wave of stars and representation, making the way for movies such as 'Past Lives,' 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' and 'Minari.' 'At its best, [these initiatives] are about expanding imagination, creativity and possibility,' Wu said. 'But, If you are stodgy and stuck in your ways, as a director, you're limiting yourself. If you think it's just about trying to check off a box, that's not what it's supposed to be and not what it should be,' she said about onscreen diversity. Alongside acting, Wu has another job as the mother of two young children. The actress compared motherhood to the golden triangle of productivity — fast, cheap and good, and says you can only have two. Her version, she jokes, is the 'golden triangle of motherhood': clean house, personal sanity and happy and healthy kids — and again, you can only have two. 'I really like having a clean house and I like having happy and healthy children, so personal sanity goes out the window. This production triangle goes out the window if you're a man with a wife but, for mothers, even if you have a husband or help, that triangle is real,' Wu said.
Los Angeles Times
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Hollywood diversity in decline despite audience demand, study finds: ‘The writing was on the wall'
A new study examining the top films of 2024 has found that Hollywood is backsliding on its diversity efforts. The 2025 edition of the UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report, released Thursday, has determined that the proportion of people of color working in key entertainment roles dropped compared to their white counterparts in every area between 2023 and 2024. This is despite findings that also show that films with casts that reflect the diversity of the real world performed better at the box office. 'Last year, we celebrated some historic highs for people of color in the industry,' Ana-Christina Ramón, the report's co-founder and director of UCLA's Entertainment and Media Research Initiative, said in a statement. 'But 2024 saw a widespread reversal, as film studios retreated from racial and ethnic diversity in front of and behind the camera.' The latest UCLA study examined 104 of the top English-language theatrical releases from 2024 to analyze the demographics of actors, writers, directors and even ticket buyers. The study tracked global and domestic box office figures as well as film genres. Researchers found that among the top films, those with more racially diverse casts tended to perform better at the global box office than those with less diverse casts. Films in which 41-50% of cast members were people of color — such as 'Wicked,' 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire' and 'A Quiet Place: Day One' — were found to have the highest median global box office earnings. These movies also tended to be released in more international markets. Similarly, the study determined that the majority of moviegoers keeping the industry afloat are people of color. Filmgoers of color were found to have purchased the majority of domestic opening weekend tickets for seven of the top 10 films and 12 of the top 20 films released in theaters in 2024. 'Diversity is a key part of the big financial picture,' Jade Abston, one of the study's co-authors and a doctoral candidate in cinema and media studies at UCLA, said in a statement. 'Diversity travels. When a film lacks diverse faces and perspectives, it's just not as appealing here and abroad.' Despite these findings, the study shows that people of color remain underrepresented as film leads, directors, writers and total actors in these Hollywood films. Actors of color accounted for 25.2% of lead roles in the top theatrical films of 2024, which is down from 29.2% in 2023. People of color account for 44.3% of the U.S. population. The number of films directed by people of color also dropped in 2024 compared to 2023. Directors of color accounted for 20.2% of 2024 movies, compared to 22.9% of films the year before. These findings come amid the contraction that has reduced the number of Hollywood productions and jobs as well as the current trend of companies and studios rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the wake of President Trump's return to office is. 'The writing was on the wall, as we previously saw the loss of executive positions and programs focused on diversity,' Darnell Hunt, co-founder of the report and the executive vice chancellor and provost at UCLA, said in a statement. 'For the studios, it seems that it wasn't about investing in what our data has shown to be profitable. They went with what they considered safe.' The study did find some positive trends. After two years of decline, women accounted for 47.6% of lead performers in 2024 — closer to parity with men compared to 2023 (32.1% of leads). Meanwhile, women directors accounted for 15.4% of films in 2024, which is similar to the previous year's findings at 14.7%. Read the full report here.
Buzz Feed
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
The Internet Is Praising Nicole Kidman For Working With 19 Female Directors Over 8 Years
It feels like Nicole Kidman is everywhere lately. If we don't see her for the first couple seconds of every AMC movie, then she's undoubtedly starring in the year's biggest films and TV shows. But don't be fooled by her frequency. There's a method to the madness. In an interview for Time, Nicole revealed why she never stops working and how she's using her star power for women filmmakers. You probably didn't know that Nicole once pledged to work with a woman director every 18 months during the height of the #MeToo movement, and she's more than delivered on that promise. According to Time, Nicole has worked as an actor and producer with a woman director on 19 film and TV projects over the past eight years. The UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report states that women directed fewer than 15% of theatrical films. Nicole believes, "It can be changed, but it can only be changed by actually being in the films of women." In May 2017, at the Cannes Film Festival, Nicole told The Sydney Morning Herald that she made a conscious effort to work with women directors. "I think it's necessary. It's very much a part of my contribution now, pretty much to say every 18 months — I'm making a movie with a female director because that's the only way the statistics are going to change when other women start to, 'no I'm actually going to choose only a woman now.'" "Every 18 months, there has to be a female director in the equation," she said. Last year, when Nicole recalled her pledge in a Deadline interview, she felt in her head that 18 months might be "too long" and considered perhaps "every six months to a year" was more accurate. She was right. The 57-year-old actor surpassed her pledge with her involvement in projects attached to women filmmakers. There's Jane Campion's Top of the Lake: China Girl (2017): Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled (2017): David E. Kelley's Big Little Lies, which was directed by Andrea Arnold and Jean-Marc Vallée: Karyn Kusama's Destroyer (2018): David E. Kelley's The Undoing (2020), which was directed by Susanne Bier: Niko Tavernise Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch's Roar (2022): Lesli Linka Glatter and Clark Johnson's Love & Death (2023): Lulu Wang's Expats (2024): Jenna Lamia's The Perfect Couple (2024): Vicky Jenson's Spellbound (2024): Halina Reijn's Babygirl (2024): On top of all that, Nicole has upcoming projects as the executive producer and star of Samantha Strauss's The Last Anniversary, Liz Sarnoff's Scarpetta, and Mimi Cave's Holland (2025). Unsurprisingly, the internet is praising Nicole for intentionally working with women. "Nicole Kidman walks the walk! She's not just talking about supporting female directors, she's actively creating opportunities for them. This is what real change looks like," one person wrote. "See how easy is to find women from diverse backgrounds when you try?" this user suggested. Another user said, "It's easy to find women from different backgrounds when you really try. When you put in the effort, it's not hard. You just have to look and you'lll find them... Lol." "I love this. Good job putting women on. Especially when we're underpaid and overlooked," this person wrote. And finally, this person said, "Will never again ding this queen for overexposure and the nonstop onslaught of new work." So, next time you get ready to complain about Nicole being in every movie — remember it's for a good reason. Do you have a favorite Nicole Kidman movie? Share in the comments.
