Eva Longoria, John Leguizamo and Xochitl Gomez are among the many 100-plus Latino actors, artists and creatives who’ve signed an open letter calling for accountability in Hollywood — citing longtime discrimination in casting and storytelling.
The general public assertion follows the controversy surrounding Odessa A’zion, who dropped her function as a Latina character in Sean Durkin’s “Deep Cuts,” following on-line backlash over the actor herself not being Latina.
“Recent casting decisions around the character Zoe Gutierrez in A24’s ‘Deep Cuts’ have exposed a troubling pattern,” the letter states. “We acknowledge and commend Odessa A’zion for listening, reflecting and deciding to exit the project and become an ally. Yet how did this happen?”
Earlier this week, the Wrap revealed that the “I Love L.A.” and “Marty Supreme” breakout star was solid as Zoe Gutierrez within the A24 movie adaptation of Holly Brickley’s music-filled coming-of-age novel. The character’s identification performs an necessary function within the guide, as she is written as a half-Mexican and half-Jewish lesbian.
Although the 25-year-old introduced Wednesday night time that she had dropped the function — admitting by way of her Instagram tales that she had not but learn the guide, nor discovered of all of the character’s traits — the incident has unearthed questions on Latino illustration in Hollywood.
“This isn’t about Odessa,” stated Xochitl Gomez to The Occasions on Friday. “It’s about the executives, the producers and the whole system at the top. They thought it was OK to not even audition Latinas for the role in the first place. Latinas were pitched, including me, but we were told that there was an actress with an exclusive offer. This role never showed up on the casting grid because it was already gone.”
Xochitl Gomez attends “REBBECA” LA Premiere on November 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Picture by JC Olivera/Getty Pictures for State of the Artwork)
(JC Olivera / Getty Pictures for State of the Artwork)
In keeping with UCLA’s 2025 Hollywood Variety Report, Latinos have been solid in just one% of the main roles within the high 104 English-language movies launched theatrically in 2024, regardless of constituting roughly 20% of the entire U.S. inhabitants.
In TV, illustration is simply as stark. Latinos are solid in solely 6% of all roles throughout the highest U.S. broadcast collection, as per a current research by ¡Pa’lante! — a Latino illustration initiative from the USC Norman Lear Middle — which additionally discovered that 1 in 4 Latino characters are depicted as profession criminals.
“The absence of Latina audition opportunities, and the choice to replace a clearly Latina character with a non-Latina actress, signals a broader, ongoing erasure of our community from the stories that define our culture,” the letter continues. “This is not about any one actor or project. It is about a system that repeatedly overlooks qualified Latino talent even as our identities, histories, and experiences fuel the most enduring stories.”
The signatories request that Latino actors be employed for a various vary of roles, together with non-stereotypical leads. There’s additionally a requirement for extra Latino executives to be concerned in green-lighting tasks and the inclusion of Latino consultants, writers and producers from the earliest levels of growth. Lastly, there’s a name on Hollywood to create mentorship, scholarships and alternatives that broaden entry on all ranges of the ecosystem.
This plea by marginalized creatives is just not the primary pushback — nor doubtless the final — towards a stagnant Hollywood machine.
As early because the Nineteen Twenties, the portrayal of Latinos was so destructive that the Mexican authorities, and even Woodrow Wilson reportedly instructed Hollywood producers to “please be a little kinder to the Mexicans.”
In 1999, the Nationwide Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and the Nationwide Assn. for the Development of Coloured Folks (NAACP) known as for the boycott of broadcast networks’ 26 new fall collection as a result of they didn’t characteristic a non-white lead, sparking dialogue over the range of Hollywood on the time.
Comic Chris Rock blasted the trade in a 2014 essay for its omission of Mexicans in Los Angeles, the place almost half of the inhabitants is Latino: “You’re in L.A., you’ve got to try not to hire Mexicans.”
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) — who lately has nominated a number of Latino-focused movies to the Library of Congress Nationwide Movie Registry — additionally penned a 2020 column in Selection, underscoring the dearth illustration of Latinos in leisure and the implications of omission. “Prejudice has existed in the United States for generations, but the image of our community created by film and television has done little to counter bigoted views, and too often has amplified them.”
One other letter printed in October 2020 with over 270 showrunners, creators, tv and movie writers signatures — together with Lin-Manuel Miranda and “One Day at a Time” co-creator Gloria Calderón Kellett — known as for systemic change within the trade. “We are tired,” they wrote.
The pushback continued in 2022, when actor Leguizamo penned an open letter in The Occasions in regards to the historical past of Latino illustration and the co-option of Latino tales — together with that of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who was portrayed by a brownface Marlon Brando within the 1952 movie “Viva Zapata!,” and Al Pacino, who performed the fictional Cuban character Tony Montana within the 1983 movie “Scarface.”
Wrote Leguizamo, “There’s a fix for this: Cast more Latinos!”
Learn the total open letter beneath.
Pricey Casting Administrators, Inventive Executives, Writers, Producers, and Hollywood Leaders,
We write to you with urgency, as a result of storytelling is humanity’s compass and Hollywood wields all the ability. The tales you select to inform, and the way you inform them, form public notion, cultural understanding, and who will get to see themselves mirrored on display screen. In these difficult moments that energy comes with actual accountability.
Current casting selections across the character Zoe Gutierrez in A 24’s Deep Cuts have uncovered a troubling sample. We acknowledge and commend Odessa A’zion for listening, reflecting and deciding to exit the mission and turn into an ally. But how did this occur? The absence of Latina audition alternatives, and the selection to switch a clearly Latina character with a non-Latina actress, alerts a broader, ongoing erasure of our neighborhood from the tales that outline our tradition. This isn’t about anybody actor or mission. It’s a few system that repeatedly overlooks certified Latino expertise whilst our identities, histories, and experiences gas essentially the most enduring tales.
Latino communities are already underrepresented and misrepresented in ways in which distort actuality and hurt actual folks. Casting selections carry actual weight: they affect who’s seen as worthy of genuine storytelling and who will get to inform these tales with care, nuance, and authority.
We’re calling for accountability, intentionality, and fairness in casting and storytelling. Genuine illustration means greater than casting a performer who appears to be like just like the character; it means involving the communities being portrayed not simply in entrance of the digicam, however within the selections that form these tales from their inception. Our tales need to be formed with the enter, steerage, and management of Latino creators, consultants, writers, and performers at each stage.
We implore you to hitch us in concrete motion:
Audition and rent extra Latino actors for a various vary of roles, together with non-stereotypical leadsHire Latino executives in your greenlighting roomsInclude Latino voices as consultants, writers, and producers from the earliest levels of developmentCreate and assist pipelines: mentoring, scholarships, and alternatives that broaden entry all ranges of the ecosystem
The world is watching.
Aaron Dominguez
Aitch Alberto
Alex Lora
Alma Martinez
Amanda Diaz
Ana Navarro Cardenas
Andrea Chignoli
Angel Manuel Soto
Angelique Cabral
Anna Terrazas
Annie Gonzalez
Antonio Negret
Becky G
Benjamin Odell
Brandon Guzman
Brandon Perea
Bricia Lopez
Camila Baquero
Carla Gutierrez
Carla Hool
Carlo Siliotto
Carlos Eric Lopez
Carlos Gutierrez
Carlos Lopez Estrada
Chrissie Match
Christian Serratos
Cierra Ramirez
Cristina Rodlo
Cyria Fiallo
Daniella Pineda
Danny Ramirez
David Castenada
Desi Perkins
Diego Boneta
Edgar Ramirez
Edher Campos
Eiza Gonzalez
Elisa Capai
Elsa Collins
Emilie Lesclaux
Ennio Torresan
Enrique Melendez
Eva Longoria
Fabrizio Guido
Felipe Vargas
Fernando Garcia
Flavia Amon
Flavia De Sousa
Francia Raisa
Gabriela Maire
Gina Rodriguez
Gloria Calderon Kellett
Gregory Diaz IV
Ilda Santiago
Isabella Gomez
Isabela Merced
Isabella Ferria
Isis Mussenden
Ismael Cruz Cordova
Ivette Rodriguez
Jacob Scipio
Javier Munoz
Jazmin Aguilar
Jesse Garcia
Jessica Alba
Jesus Pimental-Melo
Jillian Mercado
John Leguizamo
Jose Velazquez
Juan Pa Zurita
Julio Macias
Justina Machado
Karrie Martin Lachney
Kate Del Castillo
Klaudia Reynicke
Kylie Cantrall
Leo Gonzalez
Lisette Olivera
Lorenza Munoz
Luca Castellani
Lucila Moctezuma
Lucy Barreto
Lynette Coll
Maia Reficco
Marcel Ruiz
Maria Legarda
Mariana Oliva
Mariem Perez Riera
Marvin Lemus
Mauro Mueller
Mayan Lopez
Melissa Barrera
Melissa Fumero
Melissa Martinez
Michael Cimino
Michael Pena
Miguel Mora
Mishel Prada
Monica Villarreal
Natalia Boneta
Natalie Chaidez
Natalie Morales
Nava Mau
Naz Perez
Nezza (Vanessa Hernandez)
Neysa Bove
Nicolas Celis
Nicole Betancur
Orlando Pineda
Patricia Cardosa
Patricia Riggen
Patty Rodriguez
Paulina Garcia
Petra Costa
Rafael Agustin
Rafael Cebrian
Ramon Rodriguez
Rene G. Boscio
Robin De Jesus
Rodrigo Teixeira
Rudy Mancuso
Ruy Garcia
Sierra Ornellas
Stephanie Beatriz
Tonatiuh Elizarrarz
Tony Revolori
Victoria Alonso
Xochitl Gomez
Xolo Mariduena
Yareli Arizmendri
