Despite so many people begging for people of colour to be properly represented in media, discrimination runs deep in the movie industry. While there is evidence that things are on the way up, it’s been a long journey to get where we are today, and it’s still not good enough. Some decide to turn a cheek to the facts of reality, while actresses like Salma Hayek are struggling to fight prejudiced studios.
Salma Hayek lost two roles because she’s Mexican
In an interview with Variety, Hayek explained that the racial biases of studio executives has lost her leading roles. The actress revealed that the directors for both projects said she was the best choice, but the studio refused to have a Mexican lead.
Hayek explained that despite her popularity in her home country and her phenomenal acting talent, she was still sidelined. Even though the actress starred in financially successful movies as beloved characters, she would never get the credit from the studio.
Read More: Doctor Strange 2 writer spills the beans on Scott Derrickson's directorial departure
Studios wanted Cameron Diaz to play a Mexican character
Of course, movies can’t always be about white people in white countries. At the very least, it would be extremely lacking in creativity. With this in mind, studios are constantly trying to cut corners to keep their discrimination satisfied. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that blackface was frequent in the movie industry.
Salma Hayek explained that studios were constantly looking to cast successful white actresses in Latino roles. For the 1995 movie Desperado, the studio wanted to cast Cameron Diaz as a Latino because her last name sounded Mexican.
Hayek's next mainstream role is Ajak in Marvel Studio's Eternals'. The movie will release on November 5th, 2020.
Read More: Disney have made a major change to Rise of Skywalker in new edit