Latino directors, movies may nab major Oscars, but once again, no actors
This is tonight. Who's watching? Here's what you won't see: Latino nominated actors, again.
As the 90th Academy Awards approaches, the nominations garnered by Pixar’s “Coco,” Chile’s “A Fantastic Woman” and Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy-horror “The Shape of Water” may very well triumph as some of the best cinema of 2017. Yet for the sixth year in a row, Latino actors were shut out from all acting categories.
This, despite Salma Hayek’s haunting performance in the dark comedy “Beatriz at Dinner,” from Puerto Rican director Miguel Arteta, which many critics thought had a legitimate chance at recognition. Chilean transgender actress Daniela Vega, who wowed moviegoers and critics alike with her indelible interpretation as a nightclub singer in the aforementioned “A Fantastic Woman,” was also notably absent.
In fact, when it comes to the coveted Oscar, only one Latino actor, José Ferrer, has won Best Actor in 1951; no Latina has won Best Actor. A handful of actors have won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor.
But to earn nominations, you need the roles. A new 2018 Hollywood Diversity Report from the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment in UCLA’s Division of Social Sciences found that Latino actors only appeared in 2.7 percent of movie roles in 2016, while Asian and “Mixed” actors appeared more on screen with 3.1 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
