Danny Ramirez is calling for better representation for Latinx people on the silver screen (Picture: AP)
Danny Ramirez has called out a film studio for rewriting the part of a Latino lead.
The American actor, best known as Lt. Mickey ‘Fanboy’ Garcia in Top Gun: Maverick, was born in Chicago and raised in Miami.
He is of Colombian and Mexican descent, now addressing the issue of Latinx underrepresentation in Hollywood by recalling his own experiences.
The 30-year-old revealed that he missed out on a starring role in an upcoming project, as the Latino character was changed to a white actor at the last minute.
‘Recently auditioned for a lead role in a studio film. Met the director, producers, everyone… There was major plot dependent on the actor being latino,’ he began, writing to his 41.9k followers.
‘They cast a white guy,’ he stated. ‘If you can rewrite last minute for a white person. I better see rewrites the other way around as well.’
The actor is best known as Lt. Mickey ‘Fanboy’ Garcia in Top Gun: Maverick (Picture: Art Streiber for Men’s Health)
Danny continued: ‘I write this not to say there shouldn’t be flexibility on roles and story. Artistic change happens. Sure. I write this to say. KEEP THAT SAME ENERGY on other roles in different stories. Maybe that romcom or that drama doesn’t need to be a white couple for the 200,000th time.’
Adding clarity, he also penned: ‘To be clear. I’ll gladly watch a fantastic film no matter who’s leading it. No matter where they’re from or their ethnicity. I’m a fan of great film.
‘Just keep that same flexibility of changing where someone is from and that same artistic freedom for us too.’
The Gifted star insisted his frustration ‘is not about getting the role or not,’ as he understands rejection is ‘part of the process’ in his industry.
What it is about, however, is ‘the ability to rewrite based on the actor cast.’
‘Something that doesn’t work both ways as much as it should,’ he argued.
‘KEEP THAT SAME ENERGY for everyone.’
Showing their support for the Marvel actor, fans echoed Danny’s thoughts, also urging him to name and shame the studio and the movie.
‘Wish you’d told us the name of the movie so we could choose not to spend our money on it,’ replied one Twitter user.
Another replied: ‘Wow. That’s pathetic of them. We need more Latinos representation. Sorry that happened :(‘
He starred in the action flick alongside Jay Ellis and Greg Tarzan Davis (Picture: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
‘There’s just not enough stories featuring white guys so they had to change it, of course. (Sarcasm)’, mocked another.
While representation has vastly improved on the silver screen, movie stars and fans still argue there’s a long way to go.
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For example, a 2022 report from the Latino Donor Collaborative found that, despite making up 19% of the US population, Latinx actors represented just 3.1% of the leads in TV shows and 5.2% of the leads in movies last year.
Stars to have shot to fame included Rachel Zegler, who bagged a role in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and is set to take the lead in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snake.
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‘It doesn’t work both ways as much as it should.’
