Lizzie McGuire’s Lalaine Vergara-Paras slams racism in TV
Lizzie McGuire was one of my fave after-school shows when I was a kid.
And Miranda Sanchez was the real MVP, in my humble opinion.
The side-kick to the sometimes-irritating Hilary Duff's Lizzie, Miranda was quick and funny and had a killer dress sense.
But it was all sunshine and roses behind the scenes as the actor who played her, Lalaine Vergara-Paras has revealed.
It always struck me as odd that in the credits her name only came up as 'LaLaine' with no surname.
This was due to racism in the TV industry and Lalaine has taken to Instagram today to reveal that she was forced to look white during her career.
She wrote, ''Most of my life growing up I was forced to look as ‘white’ as possible.''
The 31-year-old continued, ''These days I struggle to find photos where I look as ethnic as possible. Or like in this photo the most East Asian I’ve ever looked.”
She added, ''In order to see, for most people, you have to zoom in on ma face. And in case you still don’t understand, I love my face in this photo.''
Her fans applauded her brave words.
One said, ''Your ethnicity still shined through…even when forced to shine less…and is the main reason I watched the show. Always thought everything about you was beautiful af.''
While another wrote, ''I'm sorry you had to be something you weren't. But I am proud of who you are and what you are. May you never lose yourself in the societal demands of Hollywood.''
We think it's fantastic that she's spoken out – go Miranda.
