So, being an actress isn't the picnic it may seem to be. Gina Rodriguez shared just how frustrating and superficial Hollywood can be with this anecdote about clueless casting directors.
"I was up for a role and auditioned in character," the Jane the Virgin star says in The Hollywood Reporter's funny-lady round-table chat. "They're like: We love her. But can she come back in with a tight black dress?'
"I said, 'That doesn't make any sense for the character,' she adds. "They were like, 'We need to know if you're pretty enough to be on the cover of a magazine.'"
Oof. Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross reveals her own Hollywood horror story.
"I tested once for a network show to play a lawyer," she shares. "A Harvard-educated motherfuckin' lawyer, OK? I wore a skirt suit and heels. Seemed appropriate. Then there were many discussions about my hair. They'd printed up all these pictures of me from 15 fuckin' years ago and had me in and out of the bathroom trying on clothes. They finally pick a skirt — the shortest I brought. Then got a T-shirt from one of the people in the office. The woman says, 'Hmmm, your boobs.' I was like, 'I didn't bring a bra for this T-shirt.' She screams down the hall, 'Who wears a 34B?' I put on someone else's bra, a size too small, and somehow auditioned. I remember wondering, 'What did I just allow myself to do?' The other actress [who auditioned] was dressed like she was going to a club and got the role. It was one of those moments where you're so confused and humiliated. But that's part of the biz."
Ah, good ol' Hollywood sexism. Where would we be without it?
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