Star Wars director J.J. Abrams isnt just talking about the overwhelming whiteness of the entertainment industry, hes doing something about changing it.

Inspired by this years #OscarsSoWhite movement, the 49-year-old producer will now require casting agents who work with his production company to seek out women and minority actors for roles in his projects, Abrams said on Tuesday, speaking at the New York Times' New Work Summit conference.

The Oscar controversy was sort of a wakeup call to us," he said. "People were saying its so great you guys made Star Wars and you had a representative cast. But we realized it has to be a systemic approach.

Abrams, who also produced the latest Star Trek movies, isnt just talking about finding a few token actors: hes directed the casting agency that works with his production agency, Bad Robot, to send him lists of people -- writers, producers, directors -- who are proportionally representative to the U.S. population.

"Any list that we have for projects, it needs to be representative of this country."

(Watch the full interview above.)

Abrams drew applause for the diverse casting in his blockbuster Star Wars installment, "The Force Awakens." He cast Daisy Ridley in the part of Rey, a young woman turned kick-ass Jedi and also black actor John Boyega as Finn, a Stormtrooper who rebels against the tyranny of the dark side.