J. Lo Is The Only Latinx Actress Over 45 To Hold A Lead Role In The Last 12 Years - Nalip News
Posted by Nalip on August 27, 2019
You knew J. Lo was unique, but a new study puts her on a whole new level.
In over 1,200 top-grossing box office films between 2007 and 2018, only two Latina lead roles were played by an actor 45 or older.
Both were Jennifer Lopez — and with a lead role in the upcoming blockbuster ensemble Hustlers, she’ll soon be breaking her own record.
This per a new report by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative in partnership with National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) and Wise Entertainment, tracking the erasure of Latinx people in film, on and off-screen.
The numbers are dismal. Latinx characters made up only 4.5% of the 47,268 total studied. Only 3% of movies featured Latinx actors in lead roles. Along with J. Lo, the most frequently hired Latinx actors included Cameron Diaz, Eugenio Derbez, and Jessica Alba, who between them held 16 of those 35 lead roles surveyed.
Across the 100 top-grossing films of 2018, 47 were completely missing a speaking or named Latino character, and 70 were missing Latinx women. Latina characters were also found to be more likely to be sexualized than their Black or Asian counterparts.
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