Daniel Radcliffe: ‘Hollywood Is Sexist and Racist’

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has slammed the film industry for “lagging behind” in tackling racism and sexism.

The 27-year-old actor was appearing on BBC TV discussion show Victoria Derbyshire, where host Victoria Derbyshire asked him if Hollywood was racist.

And the star, who was invited to become a member of Oscars awarding body The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year, bluntly replied, “Yes.”

He continued, “I mean it’s pretty undeniable, that’s the thing, we like to think of ourselves as being a very progressive industry but we have been lagging behind in all kinds of areas and it’s been very well documented.”

Speaking specifically about the Oscars, which was marred by controversy earlier this year over the lack of diversity within the nominees, he added, “I think there’s lots of things about the Oscars, there’s lots of amazing performances every year that don’t get recognized. I feel like there’s a lot that’s unseen about the process.”

Radcliffe does however believe Hollywood is gradually changing for the better.

“I do think that now [that] these things have come up, things are going to start changing. I’m starting to see it in scripts that I read,” he said.

The star also addressed the controversy about equal pay for women in the film industry, which was highlighted in 2015 by an essay written by Hunger Games actress Jennifer Lawrence complaining she received lower pay than her male co-stars.

“Jennifer Lawrence was the person who wrote that letter and started that whole conversation,” Radcliffe said. “It’s crazy that that still goes on, and it’s also in department to department in the industry too. There are some departments that are predominantly male, and again that’s something that is changing, but it’s interesting.”

Radcliffe was on the discussion program to promote his new film Imperium, in which he plays a U.S. government agent who infiltrates a gang of white supremacists.

Imperium has been out since August and has received a 6.5/10 on IMDb.