Zoe Kravitz rejected from The Dark Knight Rises because the film was not 'going urban'
Kravitz's experience falls in line with concerns about Hollywood racism
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Your support makes all the difference.Zoe Kravitz may be rising Hollywood's ranks after roles in blockbusters X-Men: First Class and Mad Max: Fury Road, but the US actress recently revealed the disturbing reason why fans do not see her in The Dark Knight Rises.
The 26-year-old daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet was blocked from Christopher Nolan's box office hit because filmmakers were not wanting to "go urban" with their casting.
"In the last Batman movie [The Dark Knight Rises], they told me that I couldn't get an audition for a small role they were casting because they weren't 'going urban'," she told Nylon.
"It was like, 'What does that have to do with anything?' I have to play the role like, 'Yo, what's up Batman? What's going on wit chu?'"
Kravitz, who is of Dominican and Jewish-American ethnicity, declined to mention which role she wanted, but as female parts were limited in The Dark Knight Rises, it would likely have been the role of Catwoman's pickpocketing roommate Jen, which the blonde, fair-skinned Juno Temple won.
Kravitz's experience sadly falls in line with current concerns about racism in the film industry.
This year's Oscar nominations were the least diverse since 1995, with not a single black, Asian or minority ethnic actor nominated across the four major acting catergories.
Such is the expectation of further "whitewashing" that Disney fans are already protesting against a white Mulan in the studio's planned live action remake, before casting has even been considered.
Then there is Bradley Cooper's upcoming comedy Aloha, which was recently met with allegations of racism from the people of Hawaii after mostly white actors were employed instead of natives.
Recent research found that just 11 per cent of all female character last year were African-American, while only 4 per cent were Asian or Latina.
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