Just when you thought Hollywood had made huge strides toward diversity and a fair portrayal of minorities, a story like Zoe Kravitz's comes out and reminds us all of how far we have to go. In the August 2015 issue of Nylon Magazine, which features Kravitz on the cover, she recounts some of the struggles she's had to face as a woman of colour trying to break into the industry.
The 26 year old actress and singer says she was denied from even auditioning in the final part of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy 'The Dark Knight Rises' because the film wasn't 'going urban.'
"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 says. "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 didn't mention what that role was or who it eventually went to, but Cinema Blend speculates it could have the part of Selina Kyle/Catwoman's accomplice played by British actress Juno Temple.
Despite the snub, it seems that Kravitz acting career is going pretty well so far. She's appeared in the dystopian young adult series Divergent and its sequel Insurgent. She also had a role in this summer's surprise hit, Mad Max: Fury Road. Next, she's scheduled to appear in the final two parts of the Divergent series, Allegiant part 1 and 2, which airs in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Many of Kravitz's colleagues have heaped praised on the actress, and say that she's more than just the daughter of a famous name (Her father is rockstar Lenny). She says that Mad Max director George Miller 'doesn't care who my parents are.' While her co-star Nicholas Hoult, who she has worked with on X Men: First Class and Mad Max, says:
"She's very committed," he says. "She draws from lots of different inspiration around her and is dedicated to learning, growing, and pushing herself."
