Actress Helen Mirren has called on British film and TV fans to demand more from the British Academy Film Awards voters, after they failed to hand a single acting nomination to non-white stars.
The Oscar winner is also irked that no women are represented in the directing category at the award event, which will be staged at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
“People should be impatient... and they should keep demanding change. It will come, incrementally, but it will only come if people demand it. And keep demanding it. Put your banner up for more roles for women, more roles for black women, especially, and more women directors. Keep demanding change. It’s good to be impatient,” Mirren told the Mail Online.
She doesn’t want to see tokenism at awards shows.
Mirren said: “I don’t think any director or actor would want to be nominated because of the colour of their skin, or because of their gender. It’s about the work, and there should be more of it.”
