Latinos Secured Only 5% of Film Roles in the U.S. in 2025

Latinos held only 5% of all film roles in Hollywood in 2025 — including just 2.8% of leading roles — despite representing 20% of the United States population, according to a report from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) released on the eve of the Academy Awards.

Although the figures represent an improvement over 2024, when Hispanic actors accounted for 3.6% of all roles and just 1% of lead parts, UCLA researchers cautioned that Latinos remain the "most underrepresented" ethnic group in cinema.

"Across each of the racial and ethnic groups, the degree of underrepresentation continues to be most severe for Latino actors within all film roles," stated the UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report.

Among other ethnic groups, white actors captured nearly two out of every three roles at 64.8%, despite representing 54.8% of the U.S. population according to Census data. Black actors obtained 11.3% of roles, Asian actors 6.3%, multiracial individuals 11%, Indigenous actors 0.8%, and actors of Middle Eastern and North African descent also accounted for 0.8%.

Sharp Decline in Female Lead Roles

The report also flagged a "sharp decline" in the representation of women, who secured only 37.07% of lead roles — more than 10 percentage points below the 47.6% recorded in 2024, which had been the closest the industry had come to gender parity.

Additionally, the report identified a "troubling pattern" in film production: only one in ten directors is a woman, while Latino directors helmed just 2.5% of total productions.

The lack of diversity occurred despite notable successes such as Sinners, a horror film that uses vampires as a metaphor for racism in the Jim Crow-era American South. The film is set to compete Sunday for a record 16 Oscar nominations after grossing more than $50 million.

The research concluded that "audiences of color" — including Latinos — "are early indicators of success" for a film, as Hispanic, Black, and other ethnic audiences purchased at least half of the tickets for 11 of the 20 highest-grossing films of the year.

"Film studios cannot afford to turn away from women and people of color during this moment when the film industry is still struggling," said Ana-Christina Ramón, director of UCLA's Entertainment and Media Research Initiative, in a statement.

The report also noted that horror was the most successful film genre of the year — one of the favorites among Latino and Black audiences.