Why is "Hollywood" turning to foreign actors to play Americans?

[Xithras]

71. NOBODY in Hollywood gets a part because they're "foreign"...

...unless the part specifically calls for someone of a particular nationality.

People get parts because they answered a casting call and fit the role and part better than everyone else. If there are more "foreigners" in Hollywood than in years past, it's simply because more of them are trying for those roles.

Of course, one other aspect of this that hasn't been mentioned much is the internationalization of the Hollywood studios themselves. Disney-ABC has studios in dozens of countries around the world to provide region specific programming. When local talent is discovered by one of those regional studios, their information may be shared with their partner studios in other countries. A simple example of this is Maia Mitchell, a young Australian actress who played several parts in various Australian shows before being noticed by Disney Channel Australia. From there, she was picked up by Disney Channel U.S., where she appeared on a couple of shows, and was then given a regular part on an ABC TV show. It wasn't that the network gave any sort of preference to a foreign actor, but that studios tend to prefer proven talent, and once she was given an "in" by the overseas studio, she was in a better position to market herself to all of the ABC-Disney studios worldwide.