The stars of the Suicide Squad movie glammed up for the movie’s premiere in New York City, as they walked the black carpet with barbed wire.
At the screening, Will Smith, who plays “Deadshot,” spoke about the importance of diversity in the film.
What I love about working with this group, as you see on this stage, it’s a rainbow — it’s all races, creeds and colors. It’s the diversity and inclusion that this country is supposed to be about.
The crowd then erupted in applause!
The Suicide Squad Cast Celebrates Diversity
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USA Today also took the time to break down the movie’s main cast. Out of the eleven core actors, only three are white males: Joel Kinnaman, Jared Leto, and Jai Courtney. Four are women: Viola Davis, Cara Delevingne, Margot Robbie and Karen Fukuhara. Additionally, six are people of color: Viola Davis, Karen Fukuhara, Will Smith, Jay Hernandez, Adam Beach, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.
Jay Hernandez, who plays “Diablo,” a villain who has fire-conjuring abilities, is Mexican-American. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hernandez states that “having a Latino superhero is long overdue.” He adds, “I can’t believe I’m the first one. It’s pretty ridiculous not to have diversity in a movie like this.”
Shawn Edwards, the co-founder of the African-American Critics Association, compared the cast for the Suicide Squad film to the diverse Fast and Furious cast. He says, “The mix is natural, it’s organic and I applaud them.”
In a time where there is so much prejudice in the world, it is crucial to show inclusion and representation in a film as big as Suicide Squad. Representation in big films is especially important for the younger generation. As the director, David Ayer states, “It’s important for kids to see people who look like them in movies.”
We applaud Suicide Squad on making this progressive step forward for representation in films!
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