A February study by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found 54% of the 100 highest-grossing films in 2024 featured women leads or co-leads, an increase from 30% the previous year. According to the study, this was the first time in the study’s 18-year history that at least half of the 100 highest-grossing films from the previous year featured women leads or co-leads. This is up from just 20% for 2007 films.

The study also found that a quarter of the 100 highest-grossing films last year featured protagonists from underrepresented races, falling from 37% in 2023; according to the 2020 United States census, 42.7% of Americans are non-white. The study authors wrote that the drop was largely driven by a decrease in the percentage of top-grossing films starring men of underrepresented races. Additionally, three-quarters of protagonists who were 45 years or older were men.

Stacy Smith, a study author and the founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, as well as an associate professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, said she expected films to feature actors of underrepresented races at a higher percentage this year, potentially reaching proportional representation for the first time.

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“My hypothesis is that reversal [of the trend of increased gender and racial representation] is due to the strikes and due to [the coronavirus] … it’s about a three-year cycle for movies, so when the industry gets concerned about the economy or what’s going on, they become more risk-averse,” Smith said. “These were decisions that were made years prior.”

Smith added that lead representation for women fell in 2023 before rising in 2024 and she expects a similar rise in 2025 for racial representation. She said it was “remarkable” that the percentage of films with leading non-white women had remained the same despite the decrease in lead representation for non-white men, which she said occurred because of less greenlighting of movies featuring non-white male actors in 2021 around the time of George Floyd’s death and subsequent protests.

Zora Payne, a freshman majoring in acting, stage and screen, said she was “trying to stay hopeful” that actors of underrepresented races would eventually achieve proportional representation in the media, adding that the success of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022) — a film starring majority Asian actors — at the Oscars had made her more optimistic because of the “precedents” the Oscars create for the production of new films.

Katy McSwain, a freshman majoring in cinematic arts, film and television production, said the film industry as a whole would need to be more racially diverse for lead actors from underrepresented races to achieve true equal representation without being “typecasted” into stereotypical roles.

“It’s harder for people of color to get into the industry,” McSwain said. “Sometimes we have different stories and people don’t perceive them a certain way, and then it’s like, ‘Oh my goodness, she’s being loud, she’s doing this, she’s doing that.’ Well, no, I’m just trying to tell you a story.”

McSwain said she felt that audiences have become more comfortable with tropes for certain groups and that movies that don’t contain those stereotypes can draw smaller audiences.

“Unless … someone is going to depict [underrepresented groups] in the right way, don’t do it at all,” McSwain said. “Usually Black women or people of color are formed like a stereotype, and then it makes me upset, because it’s like we cannot be anything other than a stereotype, and then they keep making those movies.”

Payne said “race-bending” films that cast a non-white actor for a character who was previously considered white can provide more opportunities for actors from underrepresented races. 

“Even though a lot of these movies … get so much hate, they also get a lot of people in the seats,” Payne said. “People who would have never otherwise interacted with that actor … get a window into who they are, and then if they like them, they’re going to continue to support them.”

Payne added that studios should support those actors against vitriol from the public. She also said casting directors shouldn’t filter auditions by race from the start unless the film is about a specific culture or is set in a historical period.  

“People are not their skin. People are people,” she said. “Their skin informs maybe the way they act, but if they’re playing a character, they’re only saying what you’re giving them to say.”

Venus Lordson, a junior majoring in cinematic arts, film and television production, said teams “behind the screen” that include women or people from underrepresented races, as well as allowing those teams to tell stories that represent their backgrounds, can create a culture of inclusivity.

“Especially as a woman of color, we have the challenge of doubting ourselves or doubting whether we belong in spaces,” Lordson said. “And I think that feeling stems from a root of inequality and a lack of consideration and focus on making spaces … authentically inclusive for everybody.” 

Lordson said initiatives within the School of Cinematic Arts like FRO Fest that promote films made by students from underrepresented groups are “so valuable” for connecting filmmakers and moving toward a film industry with better representation.

“It comes down to togetherness and being unapologetically ourselves and not having shame in what we do and doing it to our fullest capacity, which we do all the time,” Lordson said.