Hollywood boosts female leads but lags in people of colour

Out of the top 100 movies in 2024, more than half featured a story centred on a female actor as a lead or co-lead, the first time representation has been above the U.S. Census where girls and women comprise 50.5% of the population, a 2025 report from the University of Southern California found.

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However, representation fell for people of colour in Hollywood film, the report said.

The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative examined 1,800 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2024 and assessed the gender, race and ethnicity as well as the ages of the leading and co-leading actors for each movie.

“This is the first time we can say that gender equality has been reached in top-grossing films,” said Dr. Stacy L. Smith, founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

“This is not the result of an economic awakening, but is due to a number of different constituencies and efforts – at advocacy groups, at studios, through DEI initiatives – to assert the need for equality on screen,” Smith added.

Hollywood hits like ‘Wicked’ with lead Cynthia Erivo, ‘Anora’ with lead Mikey Madison and Anya Taylor-Joy in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ set the stage for these gains in Hollywood gender equality.

Out of the 100 top-grossing films of 2024, 54 featured a girl or woman in a lead or co-lead role, the USC report said.

This reflects an increase from 2023 when only 30 movies featured a female-identified protagonist.

Over half of the films distributed by Universal Pictures (66.7%), Warner Bros. Pictures (55.6%)and Lionsgate (54.5%) featured a female actor as the lead or co-lead of the story, the report found.

About 40% or more of films were centred on a female lead or co-lead at Paramount Pictures (44.4%), Walt Disney Studios (40%) and Sony Pictures Entertainment (38.5%).

However, leads and co-leads from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups have declined significantly, as only 25 of the top 100 films featured a lead of colour in 2024, a decrease from 2023 when 37 leads or co-leads were people of colour.

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A third of all Paramount Pictures films released in 2024 featured a lead or co-lead of colour, with Lionsgate (27.3%) and Universal Pictures (26.7%) having similar demographics.

Walt Disney Studios (20%), Sony Pictures Entertainment (15.4%) and Warner Bros. Pictures (11.1%) reflected even lower numbers.

In 2024, no distributors reached proportional representation with the U.S. Census (41.6%).

“This downturn signifies a lack of investment in storytelling that reflects the audience as a whole,” Smith said.

“The reality is that audiences want to see stories about women and people of colour – studios and filmmakers do not have to choose between the two,” she added.

Thirteen films in 2024 had a woman of colour lead or co-lead, which is similar to USC’s 2023 report and higher than the 2007 report.

“While this year’s findings mark a historic step towards proportional representation for women there is still work to be done for women of color,” said Katherine Neff, the study’s lead author.