A new Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism study finds Latinos account for just 5.3 percent of the characters starring in Hollywood's most popular films.

According to researchers, those findings indicate despite all the widespread attention recently cast on the limited role of minorities in Hollywood, there has been little improvement in that department over an eight-year period commencing in 2007.

Researchers added the lack of diversity has become so deeply entrenched it's come to represent a "pervasive ad systematic" problem both in front of and behind the camera.

Discrimination Deeply Rooted

"We're seeing entrenched inequality," said USC professor and lead researcher Stacy L. Smith, adding over that same time-frame the percentages for blacks (12.2 percent) and Asians (3.9 percent) have also gone largely unchanged.

"Whether we're studying gender, race, ethnicity, LGBT or characters with disabilities, we're really seeing exclusionary forces leaving out anybody that's not a straight, white, able-bodied man," Smith added. "Despite all the chatter and all the activism and all the press attention, it's another year where the status quo has been maintained."

The issue of Hollywood diversity, or lack thereof, has morphed into a major issue over the last two years, a time when only white performers were nominated for awards at the Oscars.

Overall, researchers concluded not enough is being done to truly address the issue. To further illustrate their point, they recently scored 10 major media companies on, with none of them passing board.

"We've seen a lot of talk and little action," Smith added. "What we need now is for companies to take the same leadership position, be transparent in their inclusion goals and be accountable to representing the actual world we live in when it comes to the demography of the U.S."

America Ferrera Takes a Stand

At the height of the Oscars' controversy, actress America Ferrera shared the story of how she once painted her face just so she could try out for a role Latinos were not be considered for.

"I was 18 and putting myself on tape for a movie I really wanted," the now 31-year-old star said. "I got that phone call: They cast a Latino male in another role in the film; they're not looking to cast [a Latina]."

Not to be deterred, or discriminated against, Ferrera went to work, painting her face white and bleaching her hair blond for the audition tape she submitted.

"I just remember feeling so powerless," she added of the role she never heard back about "What do you do when someone says, 'Your color skin is not what we're looking for?'

More recently, she and fellow Latina actress Eva Longoria turned heads when they performed a skit at the Golden Globe awards calling attention to how much they're sometimes mistaken for the handful of other Latina actresses.

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