Our Diverse 100: Meet Blanca Valdez, the casting director making dreams in English or Spanish come true

As owner of Blanca Valdez Casting, Valdez is an industry favorite for casting needs. Specializing in both the English and Spanish markets, her entire staff is fluently bi-lingual and have casted film and television projects including “East Los High” and “Pepe and Santo vs. America.” This Q&A is part of a special series examining diversity in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Read more profiles here.

What was your first job in the industry?

I danced ballet folklorico, swing and modern around the world which led to working on my off-tour periods as a receptionist for Motown Records and, later, I ran the Latin division.

At what point did you know your race and/or gender was impacting your career, positively or negatively?

A long time ago, some of my clients would tell me, ”You did such a great job in casting the Spanish language spots. Do you think you can cast caucasians and African Americans?” — and we were speaking English. I said, “Of course, I am a Latina who is fluent in English and Spanish and was born in the United States. So yes, I am as American as I am Hispanic and know both cultures equally.” But that was a long time ago and it's changed somewhat now.

Positively though, when I wanted to start my casting company in Hollywood, I realized my instinct to find more Latin talent of various Hispanic nationalities and accents was lacking [in the industry] and that I could fill this gap. I was right.

What was your reaction to #OscarsSoWhite — the lack of nominees of color and the resulting conversation?

I was surprised and astonished that #OscarSoWhite became about caucasians and African Americans. What about the rest of the nationalities being ignored? I was astonished to see that although in their face there were recent winners of Oscars that the academy could’ve taken advantage of to show some diversity, they didn’t — for example the Alejandro G. Iñárritu who won two years in a row, but this was just like something matter of fact that came and went. Was this because he was not caucasian nor African American that he wasn’t considered as diversity?

What about [cinematographer] Emmanuel Lubezki, who has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three? He is the first cinematographer in history to win three consecutive Academy Awards. No mention, no special mention at all.

What is your favorite Oscar memory?

To see someone like me being nominated for an Academy Award, Salma Hayek, who became the first Latina to be nominated in the lead actress category. Hayek established herself as a serious actress and, in the same year, expanded her horizons, directing “The Maldonado Miracle.” She's an exceptional businesswoman.

READ MORE: Here are 100 people in Hollywood who could help fix the Academy’s diversity problem