Teen star who wants to be your ‘problematic fave’

‘The Hate U Give’ star Amandla Stenberg is an actress and activist rolled into one, writes

ON a recent visit to the National Museum of African American

History and Culture, actress

Amandla Stenberg made a beeline for “Watching Oprah”, an exhibit dedicated to the icon.

“Oprah was integral in my household,” she said, peering at the biographical notes on the walls.

Stenberg had come to the museum while her new movie, The Hate U

Give, was being screened for a group of high school students.

Stenberg, who recently turned

20, had a breakout role in 2012’s first instalment of The Hunger Games, as Rue, a doomed young tribute.

But she’s on the cusp of becoming even better known with The Hate U Give, an adaptation of the wildly popular young-adult novel. She plays 16-year-old high-school student Starr Carter, who witnesses the shooting of an unarmed black teen by police.

The movie’s themes chime with Stenberg’s own willingness to take a stand. According to Hate U Give author Angie Thomas, Stenberg embodies a generation impatient for change.

“She doesn’t allow the world to box her in, nor does she let it silence her,” Thomas said. “She is not bending to Hollywood’s standards but setting her own, and for that, not only will the film industry be better, but the world will indeed be better.”

Stenberg is uniquely suited for a time when the public, the personal, the professional and the political have never been more fused.

She grew up in Los Angeles with her African-american mother and Danish father.

Her first movie role was in Colombiana, as a young version of

Zoe Saldana. The Hunger Games – her second film – was seen by millions around the world. But it was a video she made for history class in 2015 that became a watershed. Called

Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows, the four-minute tutorial explained the most offensive dynamics of cultural appropriation. After Stenberg posted the video on Tumblr, it became a viral sensation.

Stenberg found herself in the midst of controversy this year when some observers expressed disappointment that a light-skinned actress was cast in The Hate U Give, in part because the cover of the book depicts Starr as darker.

On Instagram, Stenberg assured her critics had been “seen and heard”, adding that the “lack of diversity within the black girl representation we’re finally getting is apparent and it’s NOT ENOUGH, and I understand my role in the quest for on-screen diversity and the sensitivity I must have towards the colorism (sic) that I do not experience”.

Thomas insisted that she had Stenberg in mind while writing the book. “I came across her Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows video, and I was blown away.

“Immediately, I thought, ‘That’s exactly who I want Starr to be’. She embodied everything I hoped this character would become. She was outspoken, aware and passionate. She was the personification of ‘black girl magic’.”

Although she has three movies coming out this year (including the dystopian teen thriller The Darkest Minds and the World War Ii-era drama Where Hands Touch), one reason she hasn’t made many until now, she said, is because the only roles available to her were “a black girl with a dirty mouth, or people who were over-sexualised, or the little sister of a drug dealer – just dangerous tropes that I had no interest in portraying”.

“When I take meetings with executives or in discussing a deal for a potential film, one of the first questions I get asked is, ‘How many Instagram followers do you have?’ or ‘What are your social media analytics?’”

Noting the escalating toxicity of the web, Stenberg added, “It used to be a place of freedom and expression for me. But as the culture of the internet has shifted, I’ve felt that less. Now it’s a function of my job.”

She’d really love to appear in a Kill Bill sequel, playing Copperhead’s daughter grown up. “I hope that I always remain a problematic fave,” she said with a grin. “It means that I’m figuring stuff out and doing something right.” |