> It may just be little inexperienced me, but I sincerely doubt that much racial discrimination goes on in the movie business. ...I don't see how anyone could actually legally discriminate against someone for their skin color now. I hear constantly about lawsuits against big companies because of blacks being fired now. I doubt a good black actor would "slip through the cracks" simply for being black.

I would have thought so too, until I read a recent Newsweek article interviewing several Oscar nominees, among which was Will Smith (for his role in "Ali"). The topic of race came up and it was noted that because movie roles are usually written as white characters, it's often a fight for black actors and actresses to persuade the moviemakers to consider giving them the part. The lead role in Sister Act (played by Whoopi Goldberg) was written as a white character. Will Smith was turned down for a role in a movie based on a John Grisham novel when the author strongly hinted that he didn't want the character's race to change.

I'm not saying that John Grisham should have been happy to change a character in his story from white to black, but my impression from reading the article is that overall -- from the actors' point of view, anyway -- it's an uphill fight for blacks to get cast in decent roles.

Iss "alert Newsweek reader" achar