Steep decline for minority and female leads in film, UCLA Hollywood diversity report finds

Representation for women and minorities in movies dropped drastically in 2025, according to UCLA’s latest Hollywood Diversity Report.

Since 2014, UCLA has released an annual report examining diversity among lead talent, writers and directors for widely-released theatrical films and movies on streaming services. Part 1, which focused on theatrical films, was released in March while Part 2, which focused on streaming-only films, was released Wednesday.

Regarding Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) representation, UCLA found that minority representation continued a steady decline in lead roles compared to 2024.

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“After peaking in 2023, the BIPOC share of lead roles in top theatrical films continued to decline,” the report read. “Compared to the year before, this share dropped almost two percentage points to 23.1 percent in 2025. The share of theatrical film leads played by BIPOC actors reached only slightly more than half of what would be required for proportional representation relative to their 45.2 percent share of the U.S. population in 2025.”

Female representation also dropped from a peak of 47.6% in 2024 to 37% in 2025 with similarly low rates across director and total cast representation.

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“Constituting slightly more than half of the population, women remained underrepresented in all major employment arenas for theatrical film in 2025,” the report read.

Minority representation also saw a significant decline in streaming film lead roles released in 2025 after previously reaching a record high in 2024.

“The share of BIPOC leads in films from major streamers dropped sharply to 36% in 2025 after reaching a high of 51% in 2024. Given that 45.2% of the U.S. population was BIPOC in 2025, BIPOC lead actors fell below proportionate representation (by 9.2 percentage points) for the first time in three years,” the report read.

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By contrast, women were overrepresented as the leads in streaming films, even though they saw a decline from 61% to 58.4% in 2025.

The report ended on the importance of increasing opportunities for minority actors and filmmakers not only to increase profit but to benefit society as well.

“People want stories they can relate to and connect with in the movies they watch. In a society where people increasingly do not interact with each other in person, film affords people the opportunity to connect with others who they may never come in contact with in real life and helps them to understand their shared humanity. This is why meaningful representation in film is so vital and why Hollywood must adapt to meet this need,” the report concluded.