CBS is bringing the world a televised version of Nancy Drew (opens in new tab), and in a surprising-but-welcome twist she (probably) won't be white. This makes a pretty big change from what's depicted on the dusty book covers we read as children, and follows a refreshing new trend in Hollywood to re-imagine characters with an emphasis on diversity.
"[Nancy Drew] is diverse, that is the way she is written," CBS' Glenn Geller tells The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab). "Not caucasian. I'd be open to any ethnicity...We have a lot of new series in development, both series targeted to have full African-American or Latino casts but also many leads that are being developed [as diverse]. We're not casting color blind, we're casting color conscious."
While Nancy Drew has always been a feminist hero (Ruth Bader Ginsburg notes (opens in new tab) that she's the "dominant person in her relationship"), she's also always been depicted as white—from the '70s-era TV show starring Pamela Sue Martin, to the 2002 TV movie starring Maggie Lawson, to the 2007 film starring Emma Roberts.
CBS's incarnation of Nancy as a woman of color is an exciting move away from an overwhelmingly white-washed world, and comes after news of Noma Dumezweni's casting as Hermoione (opens in new tab) in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Looks like 2016 might finally be the year Hollywood makes the tangible changes needed to truly be diverse. We'll drink to that.
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