‘The Martian’ Star Jessica Chastain Reacts To CBS’ Lack Of Female Leads

Jessica Chastain is obviously not liking CBS’ lack of diversity in casting.

While CBS executives have spoken out about the network’s lack of female leads in their shows, their explanation did not sit well with Chastain. “The Martian” star reacted on Twitter and wrote, “I’ll just @netflix and chill. Or some @HBO greatness. Or anything by #RyanMurphy There’s so many incredible options that dont include @CBS.”

READ: Is Jessica Chastain playing the villain in “X-Men: Dark Phoenix”?

“We are saying the same thing, but the sensation is actually kinda real. You're right, details matter. Their executives keep falling short,” Gugun Deep Singh agreed with Chastain.

“Been especially disgusted w/CBS since they banished their only female led shows- ‘Good Fight’ & ‘Star Trek’- to their online pay service. WTF?” Jenn commented.

On Tuesday, the CBS executives were grilled in a heated presentation at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour about diversity. The network was questioned for their lack of female lead roles. Also, the majority of their male leads are white.

“CBS has been so successful with broad appeal, and we want to continue down that path,” senior executive vice president of programming Thom Sherman said, The Wrap reported. Sherman stressed that the network developed female-led shows last year.

However, all of the six series they picked up featured male leads. Of the said shows, five are white except for Shemar Moore who top billed “S.W.A.T.” “The way things turned out, those pilots were not felt to be as good as some of the other series that were picked up. That’s just the cycle of business and how it happens sometimes,” Sherman added.

As for why the casting department is comprised of only white individuals, Sherman had this to say. “They’ve been together for a long time,” he said about the team. “We are cognizant of the issue, we hear you and we will be looking to expand the casting department.”

On the other hand, CBS Entertainment president Kelly Khal added that the network is making progress, but he also admitted that FX is quicker in launching series that builds up diversity. Unfortunately, he also couldn’t tell why it is taking longer for the network to do the same thing. “I’m not sure I can speak to why it’s taking longer [for CBS],” he added.

Will this issue encourage CBS to apply diversity in their casting department and when casting actors in their show? Do you expect to see changes soon? Drop a comment below.