Distribution lead actors in films in the U.S. 2011-2022, by ethnicity

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.

Celebrating a more diverse cinema

The year 2020 also had a record-high share of Academy Award-winning movies whose directors were not white: 62.5 percent. The Oscars might have reflected a general trend in the industry since one-fourth of U.S. film directors that year were part of an ethnic minority – the highest percentage in history. In 2022, that figure would increase yet again to 16.8 percent.

Minorities behind and before the big screen

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.