Casting Bias Quotes

I have nothing against younger women and older men on screen. What is sad is that so many women over 40 who have so much to give aren't being considered to play opposite men their own age or younger.

In L.A., I was a talent manager for many years. I represented many African-American actors. After a while, I became disheartened over the shortage of roles for African Americans.

I have a theory that there's almost this primal viewpoint on women in the business, that once you're beyond childbearing age, you are perceived as nonthreatening, nonsexual, noncastable. Sure, I already knew it before I got into it. I just didn't know I'd end up making my living from low-budget, independent films.

That's one of the problems with Hollywood. It'll say 'policeman,' and an unless it says 'black policeman,' a lot of times you won't even get the opportunity to read for it, which is kind of crazy, but that's the way it is.

By the time I was 14, I was about six foot. I remember going into auditions, and they'd look at how tall I was and say, 'Well, you're taller than the lead actor, so there's no way we can cast you.'

When you're auditioning for commercials, they're looking for a Latin guy in his 20s, and you'll show up, and it's a bunch of people who look just like you, and it's a little weird. More often than not, they're way better-looking. They're taller. They have way more abs than you do.

If I were to wait only for roles that clarify my racial makeup, I'd be waiting for a very, very long time.

When I was young, I dreamt of being a starlet in Hollywood. But there comes a point in every African American's life when you realize the limitations, that you could only play maids or some little supporting role. Even Lena Horne couldn't get good parts.

I can't tell you how disheartening it is to be told to go home because the director is filming you from behind and you don't have the right kind of body. As an actress, to be told that... Well, it's just a very odd set of circumstances.

If you're going to be born ugly and be an actor - the least they can do is let you play Lincoln.

Since I am a turbaned Sardar, I can only play Sardar roles. Either that or producers should be willing to alter the script to accommodate my physical appearance. But I won't call this a restriction.

A lot of people don't want to hire disabled actors. They think you're going to take twice as long over a shot, or they don't want have to put up a ramp for disabled access. They think, 'Why would I do that when I can just hire an able-bodied actor to play the disabled character?'

If I only get to play Malaysian roles, there wouldn't be very many roles for me to play.

It's very hard as an Asian actress to get seen for anything which isn't specifically Asian in England.

That's the kind of stuff you are offered today. Scripts that have you mixed up with young men. I find them utterly revolting.

Even at drama school if there was a part of some eastern European thug it would be me.

I think you get the parts that people are comfortable with seeing you play.

The white actresses I have known have been allowed to do 10 times more than I shall ever do.

No matter what, people don't think of me for glamorous parts. I'll go to an audition or a meeting in a pretty dress, and they still think of me as depressed or embattled. Hopefully, that will change.

In America, I am brown; I'm 'of colour', so I would be offered Latin roles, and I've fought against that. I don't want to be put in a category, to be just offered the same sort of thing. For me, it's all about different roles, telling the stories of the great writers.

If I were to limit myself to the opportunities that were presented playing only Chinese-American parts, I would be virtually without a career.

What's hardest for me to swallow is when there is a love story, say, with a really high-profile male star and there's no reason I can't play the part. They say, 'Oh, we love Halle, we just don't want to go black with this part.'

It's always a good idea to go up for the male roles. You go up against a bunch of beefy guys, and the casting director then feels smart for taking you on, like he's the one who thought outside the box.

Normally, you cast a pilot, and you have to make compromises about being political about who you cast.

Any comedic roles that I've gone out for usually end up going to a white woman or a gay man instead.