Support NeoGAF

[Miles Quaritch]

Am I the only one who liked him more than Don Cheadle as Rhodes?

No, he's a vacuous entity on camera. He lacks presence, acting ability, pretty much everything that Howard brought to the table as Rhodes.

The Wakanda king GAF deserves.

Needs to happen. He'd make a great Black Panther.

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Sports and music have nothing to do with movies and TVs.. It's not something that evens out..

You could easily name 15 white leading men to the 3 or 4 blacks..and even less for any other race..

So what's Bollywood? Chopped liver?

 

[PhoenixDark]

Of course black actors are underrepresented in Hollywood. The only major roles go to Denzel, and the rest are typically support roles (Foxx, Freeman, etc); you would have to be oblivious not to recognize this. Meanwhile Hispanic actors aren't even recognized at all.

Hollywood is in based on what white people want to see, and for the most part there's half a century worth of evidence that they prefer seeig themselves on the screen in television and film. You almost never see Asians or Hispanics headlining anything.

There is no black Jennifer Lawrence because no studio is interested in developing one; it has nothing to do with talent. Likewise Will Smith and Denzel Washinton have been the only major black leads for what, 20 years? What young black male actors are positioned to take their place? There is no black Jeremy Renner - ie someone thrown into a bunch of films and manufactured to be the next big thing - because no studio is interested.

 

[Opiate]

So just went and did some actual calculations.

Blacks are now 14.1% of the US population according to the most recent census.

Non-hispanic whites are now 63.7% of the US population.

If we can name 4 major black actors, we would need to name 18 non-Hispanic whites to properly represent the demographics of the United States. This is, again, without including Hipanic whites or other minorities.

Again, this is hardly conclusive. I'm totally open to the possibility that at B or C tier acting lists the black ranks get particularly thin, and I am already 100% convinced that black women are getting shorted.

 

[TUROK]

60k a movie?

Fuck that, I'll do it for 10k!

Please respond, casting agents.

 

[Opiate]

Of course black actors are underrepresented in Hollywood. The only major roles go to Denzel, and the rest are typically support roles (Foxx, Freeman, etc); you would have to be oblivious not to recognize this. Meanwhile Hispanic actors aren't even recognized at all.

Will Smith does not get leading roles? Eddie Murphy does not get leading roles? Samuel L Jackson isn't an A list star? Are we looking at the same Hollywood?

Hollywood is in based on what white people want to see, and for the most part there's half a century worth of evidence that they prefer seeig themselves on the screen in television and film. You almost never see Asians or Hispanics headlining anything.

Totally agreed there. Asians and Hispanics are getting shorted, both women and men.

There is no black Jennifer Lawrence because no studio is interested in developing one; it has nothing to do with talent. Likewise Will Smith and Denzel Washinton have been the only major black leads for what, 20 years? What young black male actors are positioned to take their place? There is no black Jeremy Renner - ie someone thrown into a bunch of films and manufactured to be the next big thing - because no studio is interested.

Also agreed that black women are underrepresented. No question there. I'm just less convinced that black men are to nearly as significant a degree.

 

[Blackace]

That is completely appropriate, by the way. 15 leading whites to 4 blacks is almost exactly in proportion to the actual demographics of the US.

But those 15 names have changed over the last decade or two from Harrison Ford to Colin Farrell (?) While the blacks leads have pretty much stayed the same. so 15 leads now and 15 leads 10 years ago with some overlap might be 25 leads while the pool hasn't really grown for minority leads.. (not just blacks mind you)

 

[Blackace]

Totally agreed there. Asians and Hispanics are getting shorted, both women and men.

Women in general get shorted, Asian women seem to get bigger roles than their male counterparts... outside of Jackie

 

[lingiii]

lol I thought this guy was Cuba Gooding Jr for years after watching Iron Man.

 

[G-Fex]

Surely he's going upwards with such movies as that movie 43 ?

 

[Sec0nd]

I can't even remember him or his character from Iron Man 1.

 

[Hero]

Asian actors are way less represented in Hollywood.

 

[1871]

Will Smith does not get leading roles? Eddie Murphy does not get leading roles? Samuel L Jackson isn't an A list star? Are we looking at the same Hollywood?



Totally agreed there. Asians and Hispanics are getting shorted, both women and men.



Also agreed that black women are underrepresented. No question there. I'm just less convinced that black men are to nearly as significant a degree.

You really can't find 20 white actors to go along with your list of 5 african-american stars (including Morgan Freeman and Samuel L Jackson, who do more complimentary work than typical lead work)? You really didn't think about it much, there are much more than that.
http://www.imdb.com/list/v58pud2k-f8/
It's not even close to demographics.
Plus it's not just about the quantity, it's also qualitative (the kind of work they get, the stereotypes they might have to interpret, etc).

Good to see you're not saying there are 9 white people for 1 black person anymore, at least.

 

[Opiate]

So another way to measure this: box office draw.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_actors_by_total_box-office_gross

For every black man on this list, there should be 14 people of other gender/race combinations.

There are 3 black men in the top 10; there should be ~.7. 4 in the top 15, there should be ~1.05. 5 in the top 50, there should be 3.5. Black men are hugely overrepresented at the very top, and marginally overrepresented over the whole course of the list. This does reinforce the plausible argument that black men are fine at the top of the A list but underrepresented in the B and C tiers. Hard to say.

However, there is exactly one hispanic actor on this list (Antonio Banderas) despite the fact that Hispanics make up more of the US than do Blacks. There are no Black women. There are no Asian men or women. Those are the demographics really getting the shaft.

Again, not saying everything is perfect for black men, but it seems to me that they are reasonably represented, especially compared to any other minority.

 

[Joni]

ahhh

misread!

Big Mama's house of course!

So he played the villain in a comedy. They really overpaid him and he is dumb for not realizing it. They probably could have gotten Cuba Gooding, Jr. for less than that, and he has an Academy Award on his resume and he even looks the same.

 

[Opiate]

You really can't find 20 white actors to go along with your list of 5 african-american stars (including Morgan Freeman and Samuel L Jackson, who do more complimentary work than typical lead work)? You really didn't think about it much, there are much more than that.
http://www.imdb.com/list/v58pud2k-f8/
It's not even close to demographics.
Plus it's not just about the quantity, it's also qualitative (the kind of work they get, the stereotypes they might have to interpret, etc).

If there are only 20 non-black actors to the 5 black actors I just named, then black men are hugely overrepresented in the Hollywood. We should be able to name 35-40 non-black actors (and remember, we're only talking men) of comparable star power for demographic proportionality.

Good to see you're not saying there are 9 white people for 1 black anymore, at least.

I never said that. I said there are 9 non-blacks for every 1 black. It's actually between 1-to-7 and 1-to-8 now, after seeing the new census data (it's 14% now; it was 12% as of the 2000 census, which is what I was going off initially). That means for every 1 black male lead, there should be around 8 non-black leading men. If we can name 4 black male leads, there need to be 32 non-black leads of comparable star power for demographics to be appropriate. If we can name 5 black leading men, we should be able to name 40 non-black leading men.

 

[shira]

Will if there is a Bechdel Test for women talking to women in a movie and most movies fail. There will be a hell of a lot of movies where a minority does not talk to another minority. Has Morgan Freeman helped a fellow minority or given one advice?

 

[lenovox1]

So just went and did some actual calculations.

Blacks are now 14.1% of the US population according to the most recent census.

Non-hispanic whites are now 63.7% of the US population.

If we can name 4 major black actors, we would need to name 18 non-Hispanic whites to properly represent the demographics of the United States. This is, again, without including Hipanic whites or other minorities.

Again, this is hardly conclusive. I'm totally open to the possibility that at B or C tier acting lists the black ranks get particularly thin, and I am already 100% convinced that black women are getting shorted.

The closest thing we've got to a "star meter" is Forbes' Star Currency list, which tries to measure actors and actresses based on their worth to a particular project. Because, let's face it, actors are treated like commodities in the blockbuster film world.

http://star-currency.forbes.com/celebrity-list/top-celebrities

In the top 100, you've got Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, and Tyler Perry. That's 5%, of course. You've got one star in the top 100 that identifies as Latino (Jennifer Lopez), and one star that identifies as Asian (Jackie Chan), and a couple mixed people that are seen as white.

There's lots of Latino representation on cable TV and in smaller works, but unless you're one of a handful of Latino people, you're not seen in the huge stuff. Same goes for Asian males, unless you're name is Jackie Chan or Jet Li.

 

[Jarmel]

The closest thing we've got to a "star meter" is Forbes' Star Currency list, which tries to measure actors and actresses based on their worth to a particular project. Because, let's face it, actors are treated like commodities in the blockbuster film world.

http://star-currency.forbes.com/celebrity-list/top-celebrities

In the top 100, you've got Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, and Tyler Perry. That's 5%, of course. You've got one star in the top 100 that identifies as Latino (Jennifer Lopez), and one star that identifies as Asian (Jackie Chan), and a couple mixed people that are seen as white.

There's lots of Latino representation on cable TV and in smaller works, but unless you're one of a handful of Latino people, you're not seen in the huge stuff. Same goes for Asian males, unless you're name is Jackie Chan or Jet Li.

I was about to make a similar argument but I think you beat me to it. There are also recent stars such as the Twilight couple who are raking in dough and aren't counted in there.

 

[Opiate]

The closest thing we've got to a "star meter" is Forbes' Star Currency list, which tries to measure actors and actresses based on their worth to a particular project. Because, let's face it, actors are treated like commodities in the blockbuster film world.

http://star-currency.forbes.com/celebrity-list/top-celebrities

In the top 100, you've got Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, and Tyler Perry. That's 5%, of course. You've got one star in the top 100 that identifies as Latino (Jennifer Lopez), and one star that identifies as Asian (Jackie Chan), and a couple mixed people that are seen as white.

There's lots of Latino representation on cable TV and in smaller works, but unless you're one of a handful of Latino people, you're not seen in the huge stuff. Same goes for Asian males, unless you're name is Jackie Chan or Jet Li.

I see Eddie Murphy in there as well (at number 49), Jamie Foxx on there (at number 69), and Morgan Freeman just outside the top 100.

That would put black men at 6% (without including Morgan Freeman, who is, again, just outside the top 100). Black men are ~7% of the US population. Further, Will Smith is #1 and Denzel is #9, giving black men very significant overrepresentation in the top 10. Still, this specific list puts black men as ever so slightly underrepresented. My box-office-gross list puts black men as ever so slightly over represented. Either way, the over/underepresentation seems fairly small to me.

As you say, it's really the rest of the minorities getting a short shrift. There are no Hispanic men in the top 100 (although Antonio Banderas is 127), and there is 1 Hispanic woman -- and this is despite the fact that Hispanics actually outnumber black people in the US. Asians have 1 representative, they should have ~5. No Native Americans. There should be 17 Hispanics on there, not 1.

So White Men definitely are overrepresented, but it's mostly at the expense of Hispanics/Asians/Native Americans/Black Women, and not at the expense of Black men.

 

[Rubbish King]

I was pretty fuckin' pissed when they replaced him, he hasnt grown on me either

 

[SteveWD40]

While I liked him in IM1 I think he killed his own career by being an insufferable douche to work with.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Eddie Murphy gets lead roles? Outside of shit that is barely above Straight to DVD status, no. And Jackson is predominantly a supporting actor. Denzel and Will are the only two.

 

[akira28]

Am I the only one who liked him more than Don Cheadle as Rhodes?

I haven't seen either movie. Probably never will, but even I can see that Howard was a better Rhodey. Cheadle didn't look comfortable in the role at all, and Howard looked like a cockey son of a bitch. Exactly like the Marvel Ultimates Rhodey.

vv: If it goes above 3, they'll take over Hollywood. There must be a balance.

 

[Blackace]

Eddie Murphy gets lead roles? Outside of shit that is barely above Straight to DVD status, no. And Jackson is predominantly a supporting actor. Denzel and Will are the only two.

Sam Jack gets leads, and plenty of work..

Those are the only 3

Morgan is a supporting actor and there really isn't any up and coming actors..

 

[Opiate]

Eddie Murphy gets lead roles? Outside of shit that is barely above Straight to DVD status, no. And Jackson is predominantly a supporting actor. Denzel and Will are the only two.

Eddie Murphy has the second biggest box office gross total of all time. His movies have made more money at the box office than Harrison Ford's, Tom Cruise's, and Johnny Depp's. He's very frequently, if not usually, the leading man in his films.

 

[soundscream]

I see Eddie Murphy in there as well (at number 49), Jamie Foxx on there (at number 69), and Morgan Freeman just outside the top 100.

That would put black men at 6% (without including Morgan Freeman, who is, again, just outside the top 100). Black men are ~7% of the US population. This specific list puts black men as ever so slightly underrepresented. My list of top box office grosses has them slightly overrepresented.

As you say, it's really the rest of the minorities really getting a short shrift. There are no Hispanic men in the top 100 (although Antonio Banderas is 127), and there is 1 Hispanic woman -- and this is despite the fact that Hispanics actually outnumber black people in the US. Asians have 1 representative, they should have ~5. No Native Americans. There should be 17 Hispanics on there, not 1.

So White Men definitely are overrepresented, but it's mostly at the expense of Hispanics/Asians/Native Americans/Black Women, and not at the expense of Black men.

That list you posted is really flawed in that it counts every speaking role. So the reason why Samuel L Jackson is so high is because he will literally almost do anything no matter the size of the part. Jack Nicholson is at the bottom of the list.

Of the two who do you think was offered more meaningful roles through out their carriers, and who was getting eaten by bad cgi sharks?

 

[G-Fex]

Eddie Murphy gets lead roles? Outside of shit that is barely above Straight to DVD status, no. And Jackson is predominantly a supporting actor. Denzel and Will are the only two.

Yeah isn't Eddie pretty much faded into obscurity now?

 

[Discotheque]

Sam Jackson used to get leads. now he's just supporting actor.

It's literally just Denzel and Will. who are both awesome but it's time to diversify already.

i can't name any promising up and coming black actors, but i can name like 10 white dudes.

idris elba won't be a leading actor, never.

edit: eddie murphy's comeback hinges on the success of that beverly hills cop tv show.

 

[Opiate]

That list you posted is really flawed in that it counts every speaking role. So the reason why Samuel L Jackson is so high is because he will literally almost do anything no matter the size of the part. Jack Nicholson is at the bottom of the list.

Of the two who do you think was offered more meaningful roles through out there carriers, and who was getting eaten by bad cgi sharks?

Fine, then use the "star power" Forbes list if you don't like the box office chart.

Even by that list, black men are 20% of the top 10 when statistically there should be 0. There are 6 in the top 100 when there should be 7, with Morgan Freeman just outside the top 100.

That list also doesn't really suggest underrepresentation. So I've now used three different measuring systems (listing "A" list actors as a subjective metric, box office gross as an objective metric, Forbes "star power" as an objective metric), and none of these really suggests black men are underrepresented.

Black women are, definitely, by all three metrics. Not arguing that. Hispanic men and women both are hugely and horribly underrepresented. They're clearly the big losers here, by every one of these measurements. Asian men and women are also underrepresented. Even white women are. But not black men.

 

[Dram]

What happened with Eddie? Did Norbit hurt his come back career?

 

[Opiate]

Yeah isn't Eddie pretty much faded into obscurity now?

He's listed by Forbes as one of the top 50 most "star powered" Hollywod actors and actresses. Right now, not 20 years ago. He's presently in production on 3 separate films, according to IMDB. He's the second biggest box office star of all time by gross.

I mean, if he doesn't count, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Uncle Rupee]

He was offered a place in a huge movie franchise and balked over the money?
When the actual star would be making less?
And then blames it for his career woes?
Wow... this guy sounds like fun to work with.

 

[Discotheque]

i miss good films from the dude. when he comes back with a legit good comedy i'll be running to theaters. i'm sick of all this apatow anchorman fat dude nonsense now.

 

[soundscream]

Fine, then use the "star power" Forbes list if you don't like the box office chart.

Even by that list, black men are 20% of the top 10 when statistically there should be 0. There are 6 in the top 100 when there should be 7, with Morgan Freeman just outside the top 100.

That list also doesn't really suggest underrepresentation. So I've now used three different measuring systems (listing "A" list actors as a subjective metric, box office gross as an objective metric, Forbes "star power" as an objective metric), and none of these really suggests black men are underrepresented.

Black women are, definitely, by all three metrics. Not arguing that. Hispanic men and women both are hugely and horribly underrepresented. Asian men and women are. Even white women are. But not black men.

That just means that the black actors are over performing their representation. Can you honestly look at all the movies and TV shows that are on the air and say they that they are over represented?

You have to look at the whole picture you cant just cherry pick a few examples.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Eddie Murphy has the second biggest box office gross total of all time. His movies have made more money at the box office than Harrison Ford's, Tom Cruise's, and Johnny Depp's. He's very frequently, if not usually, the leading man in his films.

Is Eddie Murphy a leading man today, or last year, or the year before, or the year before that? No. He is not a leading man anymore. The only two black leading men are Denzel and Will.

And as I said earlier, there are no replacements for them. In the 90s there were multiple leading black men - Fishburbe, Snipes, Cuba Gooding Jr, Murphy, alongside Denzel and Will. Today two remain as Holywood builds and destroys new white leading men every other year.

Is there a "big" 2013 film with a non Denzel/Will black lead outside of the Jackie Robinson flick? I'll had to check but I doubt it.

 

[SteveWD40]

idris elba won't be a leading actor, never.

Depends what you mean by leading, he had a leading role on TV in the UK (Luthor) in a role that could have easily gone to a white actor.

If you mean US studios, well it depends a lot on things like Pacific Rim, it's hard to make the leap from TV to film as there is a lot of movie execs that look down on TV. If PR makes bank and he keeps plugging away in supporting roles he might start getting some dramatic leads in smaller films.

 

[Discotheque]

even spike lee has abandoned the black people. he cast two white guys for oldboy. josh brolin will be great but i was hoping for will smith. fresh prince has no edge whatsoever though :/

would have been nice to see

yo PD check out Twelve Years a Slave. It's not exactly a big film but chiwetel ejiofor is leading it and there are some very popular hollywood actors with supporting roles

 

[SteveWD40]

chiwetel ejiofor

Would be ironic if he and Elba did make it and 2 of the 4 Black leading men in the US came from the UK...

 

[Opiate]

Is Eddie Murphy a leading man today, or last year, or the year before, or the year before that? No. He is not a leading man anymore. The only two black leading men are Denzel and Will.

And as I said earlier, there are no replacements for them. In the 90s there were multiple leading black men - Fishburbe, Snipes, Cuba Gooding Jr, Murphy, alongside Denzel and Will. Today two remain as Holywood builds and destroys new white leading men every other year.

Is there a "big" 2013 film with a non Denzel/Will black lead outside of the Jackie Robinson flick? I'll had to check but I doubt it.

If Eddie Murphy "doesn't count", despite having three films in production, the second largest box office gross of all time, and being listed in the top 50 on this Forbes "star power" list, then I don't think this conversation can go much further.

I mean, I can start discounting tons of non-black actors this way. Russel Crow is way past his prime, and isn't making many hits these days. He was never as big as Eddie Murphy anyway. Neither was Adam Sandler, who also hasn't had a big hit in a long time. Jack Nicholson either. Nicolas Cage is serial B actor now.

I mean, if you want to be incredibly critical and narrow the field in the fashion you have -- with only extremely current actors and only in leading roles and only in the Forbes top 40 -- then the list of actors of any type is going to be pretty small.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Elba is a great actor. I think he could be a leading man if pushed by a studio but it won't happen.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

"I had to start all over: went from making $6 million a movie, back to $60 thousand a movie. But as long as you don’t give up you are able … I’ll make $20 million soon. Because I have learned the lessons of yesterday.”

Boo fucking hoo. But good on him for staying positive.

 

[Discotheque]

Would be ironic if he and Elba did make it and 2 of the 4 Black leading men in the US came from the UK...

i'm aware of luther and it's a good series but i'm just strictly talking hollywood films and frankly i don't see him becoming a lead. the industry is biased, there's no dancing around it.

if pacific rim is good and a success (and this is all a big IF) the only impact it will have on his career is give him more supporting roles in films. plus he's just playing the mentor role in this movie, he's probably gonna die in the second act.

he's a great actor though as is ejiofor. you seen redbelt?

 

[SteveWD40]

he's a great actor though as is ejiofor. you seen redbelt?

Yeah, I liked it despite it being one of Mamets worst, but I like Ejiofor in everything he does frankly.

 

[lenovox1]

He's listed by Forbes as one of the top 50 most "star powered" Hollywod actors and actresses. Right now, not 20 years ago. He's presently in production on 3 separate films, according to IMDB. He's the second biggest box office star of all time by gross.

I mean, if he doesn't count, I don't know what to tell you.

It's based on a survey of industry professionals that Forbes conducted 5 years ago.

I'm apologize for that. I should have made that clear when I posted the link.

If the survey was conducted now, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart would probably make the top 100, as mentioned up thread (they're in the 7XX and 8XX positions, respectively). And Jennifer Lawrence would be somewhere in the list, Jessica Chastain would be higher, etc.

But, honestly, the positions of the minorities in the upper part of the list probably wouldn't change much, by and large.

What happened with Eddie? Did Norbit hurt his come back career?

I don't think so. Only Adam Sandler rivals Eddie in his ability to get people to see a really terrible movie due merely to his presence. Eddie Murphy just can't seem to get any iconic, meaningful, "Academy Worthy" roles.

 

[Busty]

Bollocks. Terrence Howard has a horrible reputation in the biz. His ego and divo like behavior got the better of him and Iron Man was when it all came crashing down.

The last time I saw Terrence Howard he was a guest star on Hawaii Five-O.

For more information watch the documentary 'Overnight'.

I had to start all over: went from making $6 million a movie, back to $60 thousand a movie. But as long as you don’t give up you are able … I’ll make $20 million soon. Because I have learned the lessons of yesterday.”

No. You. Won't.

Too bad for him Law and Order LA got cancelled.

I actually really liked him on that. Despite the ludicrous 'retooling' that show went through it actually got a lot better.

 

[Joni]

Is Eddie Murphy a leading man today, or last year, or the year before, or the year before that? No. He is not a leading man anymore. The only two black leading men are Denzel and Will.

Why not? Because his movies are bad? Eddie Murphy at the moment is just the black Ben Stiller/Adam Sandler with the difference the latter two actually need to finance their own films while Murphy gets offered roles. Norbit, Meeting Dave, Tower Heist are still movies with Murphy in the lead and going to the cinema. He won't get the lead in an action movie, that is true, but that is not the type of actor he is now.

 

[Opiate]

That just means that the black actors are over performing their representation. Can you honestly look at all the movies and TV shows that are on the air and say they that they are over represented?

You have to look at the whole picture you cant just cherry pick a few examples.

Well, it's not "cherry picking," it's just looking at the cream of the crop of Hollywood. As you say, it's barely touching television or B movie stuff. Or art house films.

It's entirely possible that black male acting is top heavy, with strong representation in the top levels of hollywood but unfairly low representation at the lower levels. Completely possible. But I haven't really "cherry picked" anything; I just looked at the top of the pile. It's possible the bottom of the pile is less egalitarian, sure.

 

[Brera]

The only credible black actor for the role of War Machine was clearly the dude who plays Black Dynamite

Michael Jay White?

Dude is amazing.

This guy? Plays the same character every movie. Totally boring. I find it funny that Don Cheadle replaced him because both are generic boring interchangable actors.

He isn't very smart either. Clearly to go 6mil to 60k shows what you are really worth. He lost out on 2 sequel pays and possibly a spin off where he would make big bank!

Dumbass.

 

[PhoenixDark]

If Eddie Murphy "doesn't count", despite having three films in production, the second largest box office gross of all time, and being listed in the top 50 on this Forbes "star power" list, then I don't think this conversation can go much further.

I mean, I can start discounting tons of non-black actors this way. Russel Crow is way past his prime, and isn't making many hits these days. He was never as big as Eddie Murphy anyway. Neither was Adam Sandler, who also hasn't had a big hit in a long time. Jack Nicholson either. Nicolas Cage is serial B actor now.

I mean, if you want to be incredibly critical and narrow the field in the fashion you have -- with only extremely current actors and only in leading roles and only in the Forbes top 40 -- then the list of actors of any type is going to be pretty small.

Bro i love you but I'm baffled at you not understanding that Eddie Murphy isn't a lead actor anymore and hasn't been in a noteworthy film in years; what he did 12 years is irrelevant. Russell Crowe is still a lead actor and just starred as one last year! Adam Sandler is a lead actor still. Nicholson isn't. Neither is Harrison Ford; just because someone was a lead in the past/made lots of money doesn't make them a lead today.

Will Smith and Denzel Washington are the only leading black men today, that's a fact. The majority of SLJ's films feature him in support roles, including Django. The closest thing would be Foxx who obviously has been a lead before (Ray). But he had one big film before going back to support roles.