Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress. She was included in ''
Time''s list of Most Influential Teens in both 2015 and 2016,
and has received several accolades, including a
Teen Choice Award, an
NAACP Image Award, and nominations for four
Black Reel Awards
The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...
and a
Critics' Choice Award.
Stenberg made her acting debut with the film ''
Colombiana
''Colombiana'' is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldaña with supporting roles by Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, Callu ...
'' (2011), and had her breakthrough playing
Rue
''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluis ...
in the film ''
The Hunger Games'' (2012), for which she won the Teen Choice Award for Best Chemistry. She had the recurring role of Macey Irving in the series
''Sleepy Hollow'' (2013–2014), voiced Bia in ''
Rio 2
''Rio 2'' is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. It is the sequel to the 2011 computer-animated film '' Rio'' and the second installment of the ''Rio'' franchise ...
'' (2014) and starred as Halle Foster in the sitcom
''Mr. Robinson'' (2015). She garnered acclaim for her portrayals of Maddy Whittier in ''
Everything, Everything'' (2017) and Starr Carter in the film ''
The Hate U Give
''The Hate U Give'' is a 2017 young adult novel by Angie Thomas. It is Thomas's debut novel, expanded from a short story she wrote in college in reaction to the police shooting of Oscar Grant. The book is narrated by Starr Carter, a 16-year ...
'' (2018), the latter of which won her the
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. The award has also been called Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. Out of 12 films which featured African-Americans in lea ...
and earned her a nomination for the
Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Actor/Actress. Stenberg also starred as Ruby in ''
The Darkest Minds
''The Darkest Minds'' is a 2018 American dystopian science fiction film directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and written by Chad Hodge. Based on Alexandra Bracken's 2012 young adult novel of the same name, it was produced by Shawn Levy and Dan Levi ...
'' (2018), Leyna in ''
Where Hands Touch
''Where Hands Touch'' is a 2018 romantic war drama film directed and written by Amma Asante and starring Amandla Stenberg, George MacKay, Abbie Cornish, Christopher Eccleston, and Tom Sweet. It was produced by Charlie Hanson, and tells the st ...
'' (2018), Julie in the
Netflix miniseries ''
The Eddy'' (2020) and Alana Beck in ''
Dear Evan Hansen
''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a t ...
'' (2021).
Stenberg has been recognized for her outspoken views, particularly towards her activism for
LGBT youth
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
, which has received significant media coverage. In 2015, she made her musical debut as part of the folk-rock duo Honeywater. Her single, "Let My Baby Stay" was featured in her film ''Everything, Everything''.
Early life
Amandla Stenberg was born in
Los Angeles, California, the child of Karen Brailsford, an African-American spiritual counselor and writer, and Tom Stenberg, who is Danish. Her paternal grandmother had
Greenlandic Inuit
Greenlanders ( kl, Kalaallit / Tunumiit / Inughuit; da, Grønlændere) are people identified with Greenland or the indigenous people, the Greenlandic Inuit (''Grønlansk Inuit''; Kalaallit, Inughuit, and Tunumiit). This connection may be res ...
ancestry. Stenberg has two older half-sisters on her father's side.
Her first name means "
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may ...
" or "strength" in the
South African languages of
IsiXhosa and
Zulu.
At age four, Stenberg started doing catalog modeling shoots for
Disney.
She has appeared in commercials for clients such as
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and produc ...
.
Career
2011–2016: Early roles and breakthrough
In 2011, she appeared in her first feature film, ''
Colombiana
''Colombiana'' is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldaña with supporting roles by Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, Callu ...
'', as a younger version of
Zoe Saldana
Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to:
*ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life"
People
* Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name
Film and television
* ''Zoe'' (film)
* ZOE Broadcast ...
's character. Her breakthrough came at the age of 14, when she was cast as Rue in the 2012 film ''
The Hunger Games''. The film was a critical and financial success, and Stenberg's performance was praised. She received a number of awards and nominations, including a
Black Reel Award
The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...
nomination. In 2013, she was cast in the short film ''Mercy'' playing the daughter of
Robin Thicke and
Paula Patton; Thicke directed the film. Stenberg had a
recurring role on season one of ''
Sleepy Hollow'' from 2013 to 2014.
In 2013, Stenberg began performing on the violin and singing harmonies at Los Angeles venues with singer-songwriter Zander Hawley. In 2014, Stenberg voiced Bia in the animated film ''
Rio 2
''Rio 2'' is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. It is the sequel to the 2011 computer-animated film '' Rio'' and the second installment of the ''Rio'' franchise ...
'', which was a commercial success. In 2015, Stenberg released her first EP in August 2015 as the folk-rock duo Honeywater. In 2015, she released the video "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows".
She played series regular Halle Foster on the short-lived series ''
Mr. Robinson'', which ran in 2015. Stenberg co-wrote the comic book ''Niobe: She is Life'' with Sebastian Jones, which was illustrated by
Ashley A. Woods, and published in November 2015.
It is the first nationally distributed comic that has a black woman as its protagonist, author, and another as the artist.
In 2016, Stenberg appeared in ''
Beyoncé: Lemonade'' by
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
,
and won the
BET YoungStars Award
The BET YoungStars Award honors young African-American people who have made an impact in the world of television, film, music, or sports. It has been presented at the annual BET Awards since 2010.
Marsai Martin has won the award four times. The ...
. In the same year, she signed with
The Society, a modelling agency. Also in 2016, Stenberg had auditioned for the role of
Shuri in the
superhero film ''
Black Panther
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been do ...
'', however, she walked away because she felt that she was not right for the role. She told
''Variety'' magazine in 2018: "It was so exhilarating to see it fulfilled by people who should have been a part of it and who deserved it and who were right for it. I just wasn't." The role was instead given to actress
Letitia Wright
Letitia Michelle Wright (born 31 October 1993) is a Guyanese-British actress. She began her career with guest roles in the television series ''Top Boy'', '' Coming Up'', '' Chasing Shadows'', ''Humans'', ''Doctor Who'', and ''Black Mirror''. F ...
.
2017–present: Critical acclaim
In 2017, Stenberg and Sebastian Jones released ''Niobe: She is Death'', the second part of the trilogy. In the same year, she starred in the romantic drama ''
Everything, Everything'', directed by
Stella Meghie
Stella Meghie is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. She is known for her feature films ''Jean of the Joneses'' (2016), '' Everything, Everything'' (2017)'', The Weekend'' (2018), and '' The Photograph'' (2020). Meghie has also directed e ...
, and co-starring
Nick Robinson. Her single, "Let My Baby Stay", was featured in the film's soundtrack. She received praise for her performance, and earned a
Teen Choice Award nomination.
In 2018, she played the lead role of Starr Carter in the contemporary drama ''
The Hate U Give
''The Hate U Give'' is a 2017 young adult novel by Angie Thomas. It is Thomas's debut novel, expanded from a short story she wrote in college in reaction to the police shooting of Oscar Grant. The book is narrated by Starr Carter, a 16-year ...
'', based on the novel
of the same name, which is about the
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brutali ...
movement. The film was received positively,
and Stenberg received critical acclaim for her performance, with the magazine ''
Rolling Stone'' writing "It is impossible to over-praise Stenberg's incandescent performance, a gathering storm that grows in ferocity and feeling with each scene."
The film's director,
George Tillman Jr. wrote that "She has this ability to make you feel like you're seeing the real deal, which comes from a level of dedication to the material that's rare at any age." She earned several awards and nominations for the role, which include winning an
NAACP Image Award and being nominated for a
Critics' Choice Award. In late 2018, Stenberg starred in
Amma Asante
Amma Asante (born 13 September 1969) is a British filmmaker, screenwriter, former actress, and Chancellor at Norwich University of the Arts, who was born in London to parents from Ghana. Her love for the film industry started when she received ...
's World War II drama ''
Where Hands Touch
''Where Hands Touch'' is a 2018 romantic war drama film directed and written by Amma Asante and starring Amandla Stenberg, George MacKay, Abbie Cornish, Christopher Eccleston, and Tom Sweet. It was produced by Charlie Hanson, and tells the st ...
''.
In 2019, Stenberg portrayed
Elizabeth Eckford
Elizabeth Ann Eckford (born October 4, 1941) is one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School in Li ...
, a 15-year-old girl who in 1957 was among a group of
nine black students who were initially prevented from entering a
racially segregated
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...
high school in Little Rock, during a segment on the television show ''
Drunk History'' (2019). In May 2019, she joined the cast of the
Netflix miniseries ''
The Eddy'', which was released on May 8, 2020. That same month, she signed on to star in the remake of the 1996 thriller film ''
Fear''. In August 2020, she was cast as Alana Beck in
Stephen Chbosky
Stephen Chbosky (; born January 25, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film producer, film director, novelist, television writer, and television producer. He is best-known for writing the bestselling coming-of-age novel '' The Perks of Being a Wa ...
's film adaptation of the broadway musical ''
Dear Evan Hansen
''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a t ...
''. She also collaborated with the show's composers,
Pasek and Paul
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, known together as Pasek and Paul, are an American songwriting duo and composing team for musical theater, films and television. Their works include '' A Christmas Story'', ''Dogfight'', '' Edges'', ''Dear Evan Hans ...
, on "The Anonymous Ones," a new song written specifically for her character, whose role was expanded upon from the stage version. In 2021, Stenberg was cast in the main role for the upcoming ''
Star Wars'' series ''
The Acolyte
''The Acolyte'' was a science fiction fanzine edited by Francis Towner Laney from 1942-1946 (a total of 14 issues), dedicated to articles about fantasy fiction, with particular emphasis on H. P. Lovecraft and his circle. (Laney's essay, "The Cthu ...
''.
Personal life
In 2016, Stenberg announced via
Instagram that she would be studying filmmaking at
New York University Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
. She ultimately decided against attending the school, as she found herself booking jobs, and instead chose to continue with her acting career.
In January 2016, Stenberg came out as
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
though she subsequently stated that
pansexual
, meaning "all"
, definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender
, classification = Sexual identity
, parent = Bisexuality
, synonyms =
, associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofle ...
was an accurate term as well. That March, Stenberg came out as
non-binary,
and uses both
she/her
In Modern English, ''she'' is a singular, feminine, third-person pronoun.
Morphology
In Standard Modern English, ''she'' has four shapes representing five distinct word forms:
* ''she'': the nominative (subjective) form
* ''her'': the accu ...
and
they/them
Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'' and ''themselves'' (or ''themself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, in sentence ...
pronouns. In June 2018, in an interview with ''Wonderland'' magazine, she came out as gay.
From early 2018 to late 2018, Stenberg dated singer Mikaela Mullaney Straus, better known by her stage name
King Princess
Mikaela Mullaney Straus (born December 19, 1998), known by her stage name King Princess, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician from Brooklyn, New York. She is signed to Mark Ronson's label Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records ...
. In a July 2017 interview, Stenberg said she had stopped using a smartphone, believing that such devices and social media can have a negative effect on mental health. In 2020, she spent three months living in
Copenhagen in order to qualify for Danish citizenship.
''
Dazed'' magazine named Stenberg "one of the most incendiary voices of her generation" when it featured her on its Autumn 2015 cover.
She was included in ''
Time''s list of Most Influential Teens in 2015 and again in 2016.
In 2016, she was included in the ''SuperSoul 100'' list of visionaries and influential leaders by
Oprah Winfrey.
Stenberg is an
intersectional
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
.
She is outspoken about her political views in interviews and on social media and was named "Feminist of the Year" in 2015 by the
Ms. Foundation for Women.
She has spoken publicly on social media about
cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...
.
Her video "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows" admonished
Kylie Jenner for adopting that
traditionally African-American hairstyle.
In April 2016, Stenberg gave a speech at
WE Day
We Day (stylized as WE Day) was an annual series of stadium-sized youth empowerment events organized by We Charity (formerly known as Free The Children), a Canadian charity founded by brothers Marc and Craig Kielburger. WE Day events host tens ...
California, a
WE Charity
WE Charity (french: Organisme UNIS), formerly known as Free the Children (French: ''Enfants Entraide''), is an international development charity and youth empowerment movement founded in 1995 by human rights advocates Marc and Craig Kielburge ...
event.
Filmography
Film
Television
Music videos
Awards and nominations
Stenberg's accolades include an
NAACP Image Award, a
Teen Choice Award, and nominations for four
Black Reel Awards
The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...
and a
Critics' Choice Award. She has also won awards for her activism.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stenberg, Amandla
1998 births
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Los Angeles
African-American actresses
African-American female models
American female models
African-American models
African-American feminists
American child actresses
American child models
American film actresses
American people of Danish descent
American people of Greenlandic descent
American people of Inuit descent
American television actresses
American non-binary actors
American lesbian actresses
Lesbian feminists
Living people
Intersectional feminism
LGBT African Americans
LGBT people from California