“‘The whiter, the better.’ I could understand that in a country where half of the population is white, but it’s surprising to see many Latinos adopting the same attitude.”
For Candido Cornejo, a casting director who has worked on numerous projects with major figures in the film industry, minority issues have resurfaced, especially since President Donald Trump took office.
“We had made so much progress, started projects with minorities and trans individuals, and even some indigenous characters. Now we’ve regressed in time. Studios don’t want to go against the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies that Trump launched, which go against the ‘privileged’ treatment of minorities,” Cornejo said.
Trump has terrified universities, companies, organizations, and any entity that prioritizes Affirmative Action for minorities. And it seems this wave has reached Hollywood. Currently, there’s a major controversy over the failure of Disney’s Snow White movie. The lead character is played by a half-Latina actress, Rachel Zegler. Her skin color has upset many, and memes mocking her have flooded social media,
“There’s something that bothers me: now, they come to us with projects specifically asking for white people—‘the whiter, the better.’ I could understand that in a country where half of the population is white, but we also see many Latinos adopting this same attitude. They’ve assimilated into that culture and support criticism against minorities and the trans community. It’s a narrative that has been amplified in Hollywood. I’m indigenous, and I’ve fought all my life to include us in projects. Doors had opened with Yalitza Aparicio, but look at what happened with the criticism she faced. Now we have Tenoch Huerta, who has managed to secure important roles,” said Cornejo.
“Yes, we advanced, but for the past year, the studios haven’t been supporting it. But we must keep hope and continue fighting; we can’t just stand with our arms crossed.”
This casting director has had many unpleasant experiences. Years ago, he was working on a Cuban television program. “And they couldn’t find me anything but an Afro-Cuban actor; everyone else was white. This happened in Latin America. There is a silent struggle against diversity there,” he said.
For Cornejo, this is nothing new. “Yes, we advanced, but for the past year, the studios haven’t been supporting it. But we must keep hope and continue fighting; we can’t just stand with our arms crossed. The studios only care about money. If Latinos aren’t going to watch films with Latinos in them, the studios won’t like it. They’ll say they don’t make money,” he added.
Cornejo believes that the controversy surrounding Zegler boils down to her skin color. “They can say it’s about many things, but deep down, it’s about the color of her skin. You can see on social media how they criticize her, make vulgar memes, darken her skin—it’s always about her skin tone,” he said.
Zegler is experiencing all of this with pain. It’s a huge backlash. Cornejo believes Trump’s power gives the white population the freedom to say whatever they want, however they want. “For example, I was working on a big production, and a very white producer approached me and started wanting to give me lessons on how I should live my life as a trans woman. I stared at him and said, ‘Hello, do you want to tell me how to live my life?’” He said, laughing.
For Cornejo, everything comes down to one thing: “We’re not going to give up. We have to keep fighting. We need to be smarter and tell our stories in a different way,” he said thoughtfully.
One of the social problems Cornejo sees Latinos facing is colonization; many are somewhat aligned with it. “We need to reduce this,” he said.
Given this situation, many minorities and trans communities are turning to theater, as people are looking beyond Hollywood. Cornejo believes that since the last strike in the film industry, many have been living in survival mode. What is happening now is only making the situation worse. “I fear many actors and actresses will be left without work. It’s not the time to give up. I repeat, we have to be smarter. There are a lot of people at the forefront of this fight, like John Leguizamo. As a community, we need to come together and mobilize. Look at what happened with Target and Tesla: the community said we need to boycott, and they lost billions of dollars,
One of the social problems Cornejo sees Latinos facing is colonization; many are somewhat aligned with it. “We need to reduce this,” he said.
Cornejo sees the true fight of the community in struggle and creativity. “We need to come together, go to the movies, and support projects with Latinos in them. I see more independent cinema outside of Hollywood in the future. I think the biggest problem lies with the studios. This is happening even before Snow White. If the studios don’t support our people, the people won’t support their projects. If they keep coming to me and saying things like, ‘We need to do a casting, and the whiter, the better,’ that’s an insult. But if they keep going down that path, they’ll feel it in their income,” he notes.
He leaves us with something she heard from indigenous people: “We are the original storytellers in this country,”
