There has been constant talks around how Hollywood needs to have a diversified representation. Recently, when the iconic sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S. was criticised for having an all-white main cast, David Schwimmer aka Ross had said, “It just felt wrong that there wasn’t enough representation on the show.” Several actors and filmmakers have also spoken about how actors of colour need to be given more representation on screen and in prominent parts. It seems things are moving towards that direction. Here are some actors of colour who will be headlining or are being considered for upcoming big Hollywood films:
Zoë Kravitz
The actor’s casting as Catwoman in Matt Reeves’s The Batman is a positive step towards the much-needed on-screen diversity. However, the road to the role was long. She had revealed being denied to even test for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. “..they told me I couldn’t get an audition for a small role they were casting because they weren’t ‘going urban’,” she had said.
Awkwafina
The actor, comedian and rapper will star in a pivotal role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Expressing her happiness she had said she is “really, really proud and honoured to be a part of it”. She also added, “Shang-Chi is going to mean a lot for where we’re going… We’re getting a lot of firsts in the past couple of years, and there is an audience for our stories.”
Simu Liu
The Chinese-Canadian actor plays the titular role in Destin Daniel Cretton’s directorial Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The project is the studios’s first Asian-fronted superhero film. Reacting to questions being raised on his selection, Liu wrote on a Facebook group that those “who hated us because of the colour of our skin, or been made to feel less than because of it; NO MORE” and added that now Hollywood won’t be able to ignore them.
Henry Golding
The Crazy Rich Asians actor will be seen as the titular masked ninja, Snake Eyes, in Hollywood’s GI Joe spin-off. About his shooting experience, he had revealed, “It’s definitely much more of a martial arts film than a superhero movie. It’s very, very physical… The first week was literal hell.”
Lupita Nyong’o
The Kenyan-Mexican actor plays a spy in the Simon Kinberg’s directorial, The 355. She had earlier said it took her time accept her skin colour. “In school, I experienced some teasing and, of course, on TV you’re seeing light skin and it’s all over the magazines, so all those things subconsciously programme you to think that light is right. I definitely wished for lighter skin – prayer and stuff like that.”
Idris Elba
Speculations are rife that Idris Elba might topline the next Bond film after Daniel Craig’s exit from the franchise. Elba had expressed being bothered by some of the racial references that happen every time conversations around him playing 007 happen. “You just get disheartened when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be’. And it really turns out to be the colour of my skin,” he had said.
