For two decades, the Screen Actors Guild has been highlighting its members’ best performances. The annual gala isn’t as white as the 2015 Oscar nominees, but it’s pretty close.
Over 21 SAG award ceremonies, only seven non-white actresses have ever garnered a nomination for “outstanding performance” in the TV drama category (roughly 94 per cent of all nods in this category go to Caucasian-looking actors). The Oscars have a similar track record: since 1990.
With so few actors of colour to speak of, it is difficult to trace any trends regarding theincongruent inclusion of minorities in the arena of artistic success. Some say the lack of meaningful roles or developed character arcs — especially for Asians, Latinos and African Americans — contributed to their perpetual absence in the winners’ circle. Others point to audiences’ intolerance for non-white central characters. Another hypothesis: the pool of ethnic talent is so shallow, they say, that the only plausible outcome is that the inevitably white “best qualified” be bestowed the highest honours.
At the 2015 SAG awards, Viola Davis became the third actor of colour to ever take home the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV Drama.
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