Hollywood struggles with diversity

World Today

It’s hard enough to become a movie star in Hollywood but it’s even more difficult if you are Asian, black or Hispanic. While Tinseltown has churned out many leading actors and actresses, still it struggles with diversity. CCTV’s Yakenda McGahee reports.

Hollywood struggles with diversity

It is hard enough to become a movie star in Hollywood but it's even more difficult if you are Asian, Black or Hispanic. While Tinseltown has churned out many leading actors and actresses it struggles with diversity. CCTV's Yakenda McGahee reports.

Transformers: Age of Extinction has obliterated box office records in China, becoming the biggest grossing blockbuster in the world’s fastest growing movie market.

It is no accident, say critics, that one of China’s leading ladies, Li Bingbing, is playing a prominent role in China’s film success and movie distributors see enormous potential. Indeed, Li and her Chinese superstar counterpart Fan Bingbing are both poised for an international breakthrough.

But Fan, who appears in X-Men Days of Future Past, recently acknowledged that breaking-in to leading mainstream Hollywood film roles is a challenge for Asian actresses. Many actors still think, for an Asian actor to get top-billing in a major hollywood production is very difficult.

There are complaints that Hollywood rarely casts Asians as leads, and often places them in stereotypical role