After reaching an all-time high in 2020, the share of lead actors in movies in the United States that the source identified as people of color experienced a decrease in 2022, standing just above 21 percent. A decade earlier, approximately 10.5 percent of the lead actors in U.S. films were not white.
The percentage of non-white movie writers in the U.S. has also been on the rise, going from less than eight percent in 2011 to over 32 percent a decade later, before dropping at 12.4 in 2022. Meanwhile, cinema audiences in the U.S. remained predominantly Caucasian, with white viewers accounting for 57 percent of the movie tickets sold in 2021, the highest share in a historical series started in 2015. Hispanic or Latino-identifying people traditionally hold the second-largest percentage, roughly accounting for one-quarter of moviegoers in the U.S.
Distribution of lead actors in movies in the United States from 2011 to 2022, by ethnicity
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University of California (Social Sciences). (March 29, 2023). Distribution of lead actors in movies in the United States from 2011 to 2022, by ethnicity [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 31, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/696850/lead-actors-films-ethnicity/
University of California (Social Sciences). "Distribution of lead actors in movies in the United States from 2011 to 2022, by ethnicity." Chart. March 29, 2023. Statista. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/696850/lead-actors-films-ethnicity/
University of California (Social Sciences). (2023). Distribution of lead actors in movies in the United States from 2011 to 2022, by ethnicity. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: October 31, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/696850/lead-actors-films-ethnicity/
University of California (Social Sciences). "Distribution of Lead Actors in Movies in The United States from 2011 to 2022, by Ethnicity." Statista, Statista Inc., 29 Mar 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/696850/lead-actors-films-ethnicity/
University of California (Social Sciences), Distribution of lead actors in movies in the United States from 2011 to 2022, by ethnicity Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/696850/lead-actors-films-ethnicity/ (last visited October 31, 2024)
Distribution of lead actors in movies in the United States from 2011 to 2022, by ethnicity [Graph], University of California (Social Sciences), March 29, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/696850/lead-actors-films-ethnicity/