The annual UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report found that in 2021, only 30.2 percent of the year’s highest-grossing and major streaming films were directed people of color. The percentage is even lower for women, who “claimed 21.8 percent of these critical positions in 2021,” according to report. That’s up from 20.5 percent in 2020, but it’s still not good enough. Jenna Ortega is ready for things to change.
The Scream and X breakout told Who What Wear, “I see my young generation taking more control of themselves in the industry — whether it’s learning to write sooner, direct sooner, or produce sooner. I think it’s really empowering and important because, right now, teenage voices are still being told in the majority by older white males.” Ortega has appeared in five horror movies in the last decade — four were directed by white men (Insidious: Chapter 2, directed by James Wan, is exception). She added, “The more that happens, we’ll acknowledge that girls are much more than a lame stereotype.”
Ortega said that as someone who had no connections in the industry, “it was really random that I ended up here honestly. I was taught that this industry is so finicky that you can be working, working, working and then never work again. I had twice as fewer job opportunities as other girls my age, so I took what I could.” But now, she’s “come to a point where I can be more selective or more precise about jobs that I would like to do.”
Next up for Ortega: playing Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s Wednesday.
(Via Who What Wear)
