Chicago Acting blog by David August

Monday, July 26, 2004

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...talent agents, casting directors, and talent management firms are now receiving requests for actors who are "ethnically ambiguous," of "mixed ethnicity," or have a "global look," especially for commercials, films, and television shows.

Back Stage talked with several actors who are indeed ethnically mixed for their spin on the new opportunities available to them and the concomitant obstacles. Most acknowledge more accessibility to roles.

Joanne HartsHorne, who is biracial (African-American and Caucasian), says, "I don't like labels. But being ethnically ambiguous has helped me. I certainly get a lot of calls, so I've come to accept terms like 'ethnically ambiguous.' I sometimes think the term means almost anything other than all white, which is also another way of saying there's a lot of competition for those roles."

Interestingly, while producers and directors have become very concerned with accuracy in language, dialect, and accent, they may be a little less stringent in their casting. Stereotypes persist