Racism, Ageism & Sexism in Hollywood: Daphne Rubin-Vega Slams Injustices In Show Business

Daphne Rubin-Vega, who played the erotic dancer stricken with HIV, Mimi Marquez in the original cast of "Rent" has a few choice words to say about the injustices in modern day Hollywood. The Tony-Award winner reveals just how these injustices have made her the woman she is today.

The actress appeared in a tell-all video by StyleLikeU and was very candid with her words. For every item of clothing she said, she revealed some of the harrowing experiences she had experienced as she grew older. Rubin-Vega recounted the times she was rejected for a role because she was no longer young looking and saw these roles being offered up to actresses much younger than she was. She also told of having to live in the shame of "being the gnome under the bridge" or the humiliating reality of being cast as "someone's grandmother".

Huffington Post also reported that Rubin-Vega felt strongly about the lack of diversity in modern day Hollywood. She added that despite the progress the movie industry has made, there are still some persistent problems that refuse to die and do not seem to be addressed. There were still injustices in the showbiz industry, particularly for older actresses who keep losing roles to much younger actresses. There was also the issue on the showbiz industry's idea diversity, which Rubin-Vega found questionable at times.  

"The better jobs on television for someone that looks like me... is 'Devious Maids'. My girlfriends are all on 'Devious Maids'. Boy it's a lot of fun... you're a maid," said the Tony-Award winner.

"People like me are supposed to clean toilets and shit, and take care of your kids." she added.

Through it all, Rubin-Vega said that she is stronger now that she is in her 40s. Experience has taught her to be smarter than she was before. She looked to the words of her step-father as a source of inspiration, telling her to be smarter than the rest because people were quick to judge based on her looks and her race. Rubin-Vega said she took those words as a driving force on how she would live her life.

Rubin-Vega added that she is now in the Labyrinth Theater Company, a non-profit off Broadway theater company for diverse artists based in New York City. The company was led by Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz and features an "ethnically diverse troupe".

"We started that company because people like us weren't doing Chekov or Shakespeare, or Tennessee Williams or American Classics -- or any kinds of classics because of the color of our skin and they way we spoke. We don't do shit like that; we play 'the other people,'" said Rubin-Vega.