--- title: Star Wars, Mad Max Push Number of Leading Ladies to New High description: Movies like 'Star Wars' and 'Inside Out' helped boost the number of female protagonists to a new high canonical: https://time.com/4214565/star-wars-inside-out-women-movies/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-09T22:35:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:55:30.042Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Star Wars' and 'Inside Out' Pushed Number of Leading Ladies to New High Last Year og:description: But the percentages of female characters of color barely changed og:url: https://time.com/4214565/star-wars-inside-out-women-movies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ec5d01ad339cd5f/69887cde196cf4047a03a41f/rey-joy1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: rey-joy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Star Wars' and 'Inside Out' Pushed Number of Leading Ladies to New High Last Year twitter:description: But the percentages of female characters of color barely changed twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ec5d01ad339cd5f/69887cde196cf4047a03a41f/rey-joy1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Star Wars_ and _Inside Out_ Pushed Number of Leading Ladies to New High Last Year > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Feb 9, 2016 10:35 PM UTC  Rey and Joy. Rey and Joy.Lucasfilm Ltd.; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Feb 9, 2016 10:35 PM UTC While women are still woefully underrepresented onscreen, 2015 marked a [new high](http://time.com/4150462/pop-culture-women-moments-2015/) for female characters. Led by [_Inside Out’_s Joy](http://time.com/3930081/inside-out-female-protagonist/), [_Mad Max’_s Furiosa](http://time.com/3850323/mad-max-fury-road-eve-ensler-feminist/) and [_Star Wars’_ Rey](http://time.com/4149014/star-wars-the-force-awakens-bechdel-test/), a record number of female heroes hit the big screen last year. An [annual study](http://time.com/19007/lena-dunham-has-a-point-new-research-documents-hollywoods-sexism/) that tracks women’s representation in film found a 10% jump in the number of movies with female protagonists from 2014 to 2015. The percentage of female characters at the center of the top 100 grossing films leapt from 12% to 22% last year, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego Sate University. It’s a recent historical record: female-led films like _Star Wars: The Force Awakens_, _Inside Out_, _The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2_, _Cinderella_ and _Pitch Perfect 2_ all ranked among the top 15 highest-grossing movies in 2015. **MORE:** [The Top 11 Moments for Women in Pop Culture in 2015](http://time.com/4150462/pop-culture-women-moments-2015/) The findings denote a modicum of progress in a male-dominated world—after all, 88% of heroes in blockbuster films are still played by men. And even when actresses like Jennifer Lawrence or Charlize Theron do get to headline their own movies, they’re often one of only a handful of women on set. Women accounted for just 33% of all speaking characters in films, a modest increase of 3% from 2014. The percentages of female characters of color also barely changed, with a slight increase for black female characters, no change for Latina characters and a decrease for Asian female characters. Further, white women were more likely than women of color to be given lead roles. For the first time, the study also looked at how many women played antagonists in films. Unsurprisingly only 18% of wicked roles were written for women. **MORE:** [Why It Matters That ](http://time.com/3930081/inside-out-female-protagonist/)[_Inside Out’_](http://time.com/3930081/inside-out-female-protagonist/)[s Protagonist Is a Girl — Not a Princess](http://time.com/3930081/inside-out-female-protagonist/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4214565/star-wars-inside-out-women-movies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4214565/star-wars-inside-out-women-movies/"},"headline":"Star Wars and Inside Out Pushed Number of Leading Ladies to New High Last Year","datePublished":"2016-02-09T22:35:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:55:30.042Z","description":"But the percentages of female characters of color barely changed","url":"https://time.com/4214565/star-wars-inside-out-women-movies/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ec5d01ad339cd5f/69887cde196cf4047a03a41f/rey-joy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ec5d01ad339cd5f/69887cde196cf4047a03a41f/rey-joy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"rey-joy","caption":"Rey and Joy.","creditText":"Lucasfilm Ltd.; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4214565/star-wars-inside-out-women-movies/","name":"Star Wars and Inside Out Pushed Number of Leading Ladies to New High Last Year"}}]}] ```