Screen Actors Guild (SAG): More Roles for Minority Actors

However, the increased visibility of minorities in entertainment reported by SAG is marginal at best. The number of roles for women — particularly those over 40 — and seniors remained low and unchanged from SAG’s last study, released in 2005, and most roles played by ethnic minority actors were secondary or supporting. Asian/Pacific Islanders was the only ethnic category to finish with a higher percentage of total roles in 2006 than in ‘05 — an increase from 3.1 percent to 3.4 percent. The number of leading roles in episodic TV increased within that group in 2006.

The number of African-American leads fell by 49 roles. The percentage of roles played by Latino/Hispanic actors was also down, although their number of leads in features grew from 31 to 52 roles and their supporting roles in features grew from 302 to 364. Roles played by Native-Americans, the least-represented ethnic group studied, fell from 0.4 percent of total roles in 2005 to 0.2 percent of total roles in ‘06. “*

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