Is Hollywood Getting a Face Lift? Minority Actors Find Increasing Opportunities

Here in the good ol’ US of A, we are behind the times in cinema reflecting real life. In the United Kingdom and Canada, for example, it has been quite common now for many decades to see a variety of minority actors on primetime television, and slowly it appears that the face of Hollywood is changing as well.

Sanjay Madhav, an East-Indian actor recounts, “I’ve seen a lot promising changes in the last 2 years. We hardly ever saw South-Asian actors on TV a few years ago, but today there are several who are quite prominent.” Other Asians in Entertainment offer a similar perspective. J. Cha, a cable radio personality in Los Angeles, commented, “it has been a struggle for so many Asian actors that I know, and they continue to face discrimination. But, we have seen things improve slowly and this gives more hope to many aspiring Asian actors.”

Madhav added that he has seen the number of Indians in the Entertainment Industry working behind the scenes grow as well, “I seem to be seeing more Indian names of Casting Directors, Producers, and film makers, and it’s very encouraging.” It has taken the Black and Hispanic communities many years of struggling to break-down barriers in Hollywood, and it appears that the Asian community has a similar path the follow, but now they are coming into their own.

“It’s so nice to see that diversity on the screen,” added Cha, “I feel so proud of those actors and I feel there is hope in Hollywood.” Madhav added, “Despite the progress, it is still a struggle and there is much work for us [Asians] to do. I am pleased though that more and more roles for ethnic actors are not being based on stereotypes. I can’t convey has much this really means to our community and to actors like me.”

Across the board the minority sentiment is the same. There have been noticeable improvements in recent years, but there are still obstacles that need to be overcome. Many of the performers I spoke with say that it simply “has not changed enough, and any improvement has only affected a few”. But there is wide-spread hope that changes will come about more quickly in the future.


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