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TOP OF THE LIST: Noel Clarke

SIX IN ten British films made in the past 10 years featured no named black characters and just 13 per cent cast a black actor in a leading role, according to a new study by the British Film Institute (BFI).

A study of 1,172 UK films found that just 15 black actors, five of them women, had played more than one leading role in the past decade.

KIdulthood writer and star Noel Clarke has been the most prolific black actor over the decade, after scoring the lead role in eight films.

Clarke is followed on the list by Ashley Walters, Naomie Harris and Thandie Newton.

The data was presented at the London Film Festival's Black Star Symposium, where British actor David Oyelowo issued a plea for a more diverse industry.

"We will only get to the point when I don't have to give these talks about diversity if we actually start to do diversity," he told an audience of industry figures at BFI Southbank.

"The only way that's going to happen is if the demographic of the decision makers changes."

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The research found that black actors were least likely to be cast in drama, horror and comedy genres and appeared more in crime, sci-fi and fantasy films.

Black actors are most likely to be cast in films about slavery, racism, colonialism, crime and gangs, “limiting the range and depth of possible representation”, it said.

BFI creative director Heather Stewart, who presented the research, said the data showed that black actors were being cast in the same roles.

“Whilst we feel from what we see on screen that most UK films do not cast black actors in them, and that black actors are playing the same types of roles over and again, we now have the data to support this,” she said.

“The number of lead roles for black actors has not really changed over 10 years and the types of films in which they have had leading roles suggests stereotyping.

“Colour-blind casting across genres does not really exist on the big screen, ultimately limiting representation.

“Diversity is one of the biggest issues facing film - audiences want to see the world in which we live reflected back at them.”