Study: Women starred in just 12 percent of Hollywood movies in 2014

(Image credit: Facebook.com/TheHungerGamesMovie)

last updated 10 February 2015

Moviegoers: How many female protagonists did you see in 2014? If you're struggling to come up with anything besides Hunger Games, Gone Girl and Wild, there's a good reason: New research from the Center for the Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University reveals women comprised just 12 percent of the protagonists of 2014's top-grossing films.

The news isn't much better for supporting roles. Women comprised just 29 percent of major characters, and just 30 percent of all speaking characters.

Study author Dr. Martha Lauzen thinks the key to diversifying Hollywood is diversifying the people who make movies. "People tend to create what they know, and having lived their lives as females, women tend to be drawn to female characters," she said. "We need to have greater diversity behind the scenes if this is going to change."