why is it so difficult for very dark-skinned actors?

With regards to Lupita she has done extremely well for a dark skinned woman in who started her career in he late 20's. Just think of all the other black american actresses like Gabrielle Union, Meagan Good, Saana Lathan ect. They have all been acting far longer than Lupita yet she has overtaken them. I respect them all but It's almost a slap in the face to african american actresses.

Also Lupita had the chance to play the wife of two leading men this year. Both parts ending up going to Gugu Mbatha Raw because Lupita turned them down. So in some circumstances it's not that she wont be a leading lady it's just that she is choosing what works for her and I commend her for it. Hopefully "Intelligent Life" will go ahead where she will be the leading lady. Plus she has been cast in black panther and has been nominated for a Tony award so i'd say things are going quite well for her.

When it comes to hollywood women it depends. If you are comedic and not "conventionally beautiful" there is a gap in the market. Whoopi Goldberg had a great career and beat out lighter skinned actress Halle Berry for the leading lady role in Corinna-Corinna. Queen Latifa was also given a chance to lead her own movies. I know she's not dark skinned but for a bigger lady she did quite well to have her films marketed to a general audience and not just black people.

The issue some people might have with the two women above is some of that their roles might have been deemed "Mammy-ish".

When you are a slim, pretty brown or dark-skinned woman it's going to be harder. Actresses like Kerry Washington and Nicole Beharie are both good looking women but I personally feel that if they were lighter skinned or white they would be hollywood leading ladies right now. But both had to turn to television but there just aren't enough roles for pretty black women who aren't light skinned/mixed race. It sort of goes back to the early days of hollywood when there were two types of black women in movies. Dark skinned mammies and light skinned vixens. There was no grey area possibly until the mid 60's and 70's era.

Lupita is also a pretty lady and some might say "unconventionally beautiful" which I personally disagree with. But because of these views she is able to play "Aliens" and "CGI" characters where other black woman have not.

My question isn't about "African-Americans", but any very dark-skinned actors, male or female, regardless where they or their ancestors are from.

I know some of it is plain old-fashioned prejudice, but I am thinking it is much more than that. I got to thinking about the things each of us surrounds ourselves with. Valuable paintings are framed in gold-colored frames. Most of our dishes and appliances are either white or light colors. Famous statues are in white marble. We paint our walls in lighter colors.

I'm thinking that people in general just prefer to look at things which are lighter colored, and maybe that type of preference is why "medium" skin colors are preferred visually. Tan or light brown being the favorites, all else being roughly equal.

Just as a very light-skinned person, maybe even an Albino, would have a tougher time being accepted, similarly a very dark-skinned person has a tough time. Because of the mostly subconscious preference most people have for lighter colors.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

It's all socially constructed. It's not natural or genetic. Cultures unbranded by western media still have their own specific tastes that veer wildly away from what we consider standard, including "light skin".

The Fulani, for example, have a famous ritual where the men are the ones sexual objectified and wear make-up, roll there eyes and smile to enhance their beauty. You can find them on youtube, I'm sure.

All of the western-developed world is skewed towards whiteness as default "person", that's why anyone non-white gets racial descriptors. Anyone without a racial descriptor is assumed to be white.

Of people who are non-white, those who are mixed with white are those who are most likely to get work in Hollywood because they are closest to a white aesthetic. Maggie Q, Halle Berry, and so on....

Since Lupita Nyong'o is very dark Hollywood execs are much more hesitant to put her in those regular star vehicle roles you would assume a woman of her beauty with her Cinderella story would be in.

That said, I admire the fact that she's not sitting around waiting for white Hollywood to give her those roles, nor is she settling. She worked in Danai Gurira's Tony nominated play, and now has a Tony nod to add to her Oscar.

She's doing voice roles and doing Queen of Katwa with Mira Nair, another woman of color helping to shine a spotlight on another young African actress.

And finally, Black Panther directed by Ryan Coogler.

I think she is making very smart choices, despite larger white Hollywood overlooking her for non-black female lead roles.

✨

I agree she's doing very well after the Oscars. Her team Is smart by getting her to be an ambassadress for Lancome and building a great relationship with Disney. Now she have to lead roles in huge studio films. Colin trevorrow Intelligent Life. Ryan coogler Black Panther.

I think her career will be great and unique then what we usually see from dark skin actress. She's very smart and know she have to create her own work and be selective of the roles and movies to accept.

cuz the industry is run by white people, and who they allow in.






i've got feelings too, ya know - inbetweeners

http://melanoidnation.org/white-man-warns-all-black

I think the OP KIND of gets it right it is harder usually for dark skinned FEMALE ACTORS not MALE ACTORS. Tons of dark skinned black men got big in Hollywood from Denzel Washington to Wesley Snipes to Kevin Hart ect. The problem for dark skinned black women is we live in a society that favours the white female as the symbol of beauty. The reason mixed race women or light skinned women like Halle Berry, Zoe Saldana get the big acting roles is they are CLOSER to the white ideal of beauty. It is racism plain and simple why darker skinned black women like Lupita struggle for roles. But there is hope Black Panther could be big for Lupita IF the movie is written well.

steve writes, " It is racism plain and simple why darker skinned black women like Lupita struggle for roles. "

I am the OP and my intent was to explore ideas that are NOT "plain and simple racism." We all know that exists, we all know Hollywood has a history of old white Jewish men running things and one of those things is preferring young white women. That is changing, albeit slowly.

My suggestion is that it goes deeper than that, namely "race' aside very dark-skinned actors are not generally as attractive because our society has developed an attraction for lighter skin. You may think it is the same thing but in my mind they are distinctly different. I am suggesting it is an aesthetic thing which supersedes racial bias.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

I don't believe there really is a definitive answer to your question without going completely off topic. We talking about actors but we could end up talking about colonisation with this sort of topic.