{"id":24673,"date":"2022-09-30T10:37:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T10:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/malala-yousafzai-calls-out-hollywood-muslim-actors-only-make-up-1-of-popular-tv-series-leads\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T09:27:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T09:27:00","slug":"malala-yousafzai-calls-out-hollywood-muslim-actors-only-make-up-1-of-popular-tv-series-leads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/?p=24673","title":{"rendered":"Malala Yousafzai calls out Hollywood: Muslim actors only make up 1% of popular TV series leads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload_inited aligncenter size-large wp-image-83806\" src=\"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/images\/2022\/09\/FotoJet-14-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"Malala\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai recently spoke at an international event about the representation of Muslims in Hollywood, citing Muslim actors only make up 1% of popular television series leads, reported <em>Variety Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Variety Magazine<\/em> held an event titled &#8216;Power of Women&#8217; where Malala was amongst those who were honoured for being a creative leader, alongside Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Elizabeth Olsen, Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto lrv-a-font-body-m \"><em>Abbott Elementary<\/em> creator Quinta Brunson presented Yousafzai with her <em>Variety<\/em> honor, calling her one of \u201cthe most influential advocates of our time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Oxford University graduate now heads her own film and TV production company, Extracurricular. At the heart of her first projects is a rich diversity that reflects Yousafzai\u2019s resolve to tell representative stories that haven\u2019t always had a place in Hollywood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto lrv-a-font-body-m \">&#8220;I learned that Asian people like me make up less than 4% of leads in Hollywood films. Muslims are 25% of the population, but only 1% of characters in popular TV series,&#8221; she underscored at the Power of Women dinner.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Malala Yousafzai discusses the lack of representation in film: &#8220;I learned that Asian people like me make up less than 4% of leads in Hollywood films. Muslims are 25% of the population, but only 1% of character in popular TV series&#8221; | Variety <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PowerOfWomen?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#PowerOfWomen<\/a> presented by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lifetimetv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@lifetimetv<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WBmgjOl0Ep\">pic.twitter.com\/WBmgjOl0Ep<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Variety (@Variety) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Variety\/status\/1575336069767331843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">September 29, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In her latest interview in <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2022\/global\/features\/malala-yousafzai-apple-tv-berlanti-productions-1235383600\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Variety<\/em><\/a>, Malala revealed the first slate of projects by Extracurricular. The outfit, which is headed by Yousafzai and her head of production Erika Kennair, struck a multi-year programming deal with Apple TV+ last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto lrv-a-font-body-m \">Among her first projects are a feature documentary with A24 about South Korea\u2019s matriarchal Haenyeo society of elderly fisherwomen, currently in production; a scripted series based on Asha Lemmie\u2019s coming-of-age novel <em>Fifty Words for Rain<\/em>, about a woman\u2019s search for acceptance in post-World War II Japan; and a feature film with <em>Don\u2019t Look Up<\/em> director Adam McKay and his production company, Hyperobject, based on Elaine Hsieh Chou\u2019s book <em>Disorientation<\/em> \u2014 a satire about a college student\u2019s revealing dissertation about a young poet.<\/p>\n<p>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/malala-yousafzai-partners-with-apple-to-produce-inspirational-content\/\">Malala Yousafzai partners with Apple to produce inspirational content<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"featured-media-under-header__meta-wrap nectar-link-underline-effect\">&#8220;When I fill out forms that ask for a profession, I always struggle, because I\u2019m trying to figure out what my role is,&#8221; she said in her interview. &#8220;I feel like I\u2019m an activist and a storyteller. I\u2019ve been doing activism for more than a decade now, and I\u2019ve realized that we shouldn\u2019t limit activism to the work of NGOs only: There\u2019s also the element of changing people\u2019s minds and perspectives \u2014 and that requires a bit more work.&#8221;<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto lrv-a-font-body-m \">Malala is also throwing her influence behind Riz Ahmed\u2019s Pillars Artist Fellowship, which supports emerging Muslim directors and screenwriters. The program is timely, with Malala having cited new data from a recent USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative during her speech.<\/p>\n<p>Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/riz-ahmed-launches-initiative-to-change-muslim-representation-in-world-cinema\/\">Riz Ahmed launches initiative to change Muslim representation in world cinema<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I know that the executives have passed on dozens of quality, equally amazing projects because they thought that the characters or their creators were too young, too Brown, too foreign, too poor,&#8221; she remarked. &#8220;Sometimes it feels like they\u2019re saying we just don\u2019t belong here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019m a woman, a Muslim, a Pashtun, a Pakistani and a person of color. And I watched <em>Succession<\/em>, <em>Ted Lasso<\/em> and <em>Severance<\/em>, where the leads are white people \u2014 and especially a lot of white men. If we can watch those shows, then I think audiences should be able to watch shows that are made by people of color, and produced and directed by people of color, with people of color in the lead. That is possible, and I\u2019m gonna make it happen,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto lrv-a-font-body-m \">Speaking at <em>Variety\u2019s<\/em> event, Yousafzai spoke about the formative experience at 11 years old that set her on a path toward activism, pushing to champion creative perspectives from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds in the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto lrv-a-font-body-m \">&#8220;I know the tale of having a dream and being told to forget it,\u201d Yousafzai said. \u201cToday, I am a storyteller, activist and producer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Stepstool sisters \ud83d\udc6f\u200d\u2640\ufe0f thank you so much, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/quintabrunson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@quintabrunson<\/a> \u2764\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4I4i75BWk0\">https:\/\/t.co\/4I4i75BWk0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Malala (@Malala) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Malala\/status\/1575514498999275520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">September 29, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>She heads her own film and TV production company, Extracurricular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":25077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[214,37],"tags":[1299],"class_list":["post-24673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-hollywoodmalala-yousafzai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.somethinghaute.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}