Amandla Stenberg

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Amandla Stenberg
Stenberg at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born (1998-10-23) October 23, 1998 (age 25)[1]
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Citizenship
  • United States
  • Denmark
OccupationActress
Years active2011–present

Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress and singer. She[a] was included in Time's list of Most Influential Teens in both 2015 and 2016,[2][3] and has received several accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for four Black Reel Awards and a Critics' Choice Award.

Stenberg began acting as a

Rue in the action film The Hunger Games (2012), and went on to play Macey Irving in the supernatural series Sleepy Hollow (2013–2014) and Halle Foster in the sitcom Mr. Robinson (2015). As an adult, her roles as Maddy Whittier in the romance film Everything, Everything (2017) and Starr Carter in the drama film The Hate U Give (2018) helped her rise to prominence. She has played Ruby in the science fiction film The Darkest Minds (2018), Alana Beck in the musical film Dear Evan Hansen (2021), Sophie in the comedy horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022), and voiced Margo Kess / Spider-Byte in the animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023).

Stenberg has been recognized for her outspoken views, particularly towards her activism for LGBT youth, which has received significant media coverage. She made her musical debut as part of the folk rock duo Honeywater, formed in 2015, and performed the song "Let My Baby Stay" for Everything, Everything.

Early life

Amandla Stenberg, born in Los Angeles, California, is the child of Karen Brailsford, an African-American spiritual counselor and writer, and Tom Stenberg, who is Danish.[4][5][6][7] She has Greenlandic Inuit ancestry from her paternal grandmother.[8] Stenberg has two older half-sisters on her father's side.[9][10]

Her first name means "

Disney.[1] She has appeared in commercials for clients such as Boeing and Kmart.[12][13]

Career

2011–2016: Early roles and breakthrough

In 2011, she appeared in her first feature film,

recurring role on season one of Sleepy Hollow from 2013 to 2014.[21]

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, which was a commercial success.[22][23] 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".[24] She played series regular Halle Foster on the short-lived series Mr. Robinson, which ran in 2015.[25] 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.[26][27] It is the first nationally distributed comic that has a black woman as its protagonist, author, and another as the artist.[28]

In 2016, Stenberg appeared in

Shuri in the superhero film Black Panther, 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."[32][33] The role was instead given to actress Letitia Wright
.

2017–present: Critical acclaim

Stenberg at the Academy Awards in 2019

In 2017, Stenberg and Sebastian Jones released Niobe: She is Death, the second part of the trilogy.[34] In the same year, she starred in the romantic drama Everything, Everything, directed by Stella Meghie,[35][36] and co-starring Nick Robinson. Her single, "Let My Baby Stay", was featured in the film's soundtrack.[37] She received praise for her performance, and earned a Teen Choice Award nomination.[38]

In 2018, she played the lead role of Starr Carter in the contemporary drama The Hate U Give, based on the novel of the same name, which is about the Black Lives Matter movement. The film was received positively,[39] 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."[39] 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."[40] She earned several awards and nominations for the role, which include winning an NAACP Image Award and being nominated for a Critics' Choice Award.[41][42] In late 2018, Stenberg starred in Amma Asante's World War II drama Where Hands Touch.[43][44]

In 2019, Stenberg portrayed Elizabeth Eckford, 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 high school in Little Rock, during a segment on the television show Drunk History (2019).[45] In May 2019, she joined the cast of the Netflix miniseries The Eddy,[46] which was released on May 8, 2020. That same month, she signed on to star in the remake of the 1996 thriller film Fear.[47] In August 2020, she was cast as Alana Beck in Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of the broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. She also collaborated with the show's composers, Pasek and Paul, on "The Anonymous Ones", a new song written specifically for her character, whose role was expanded upon from the stage version.[48] In 2021, Stenberg was cast in the main role for the upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte.[49][50] In May 2023, she was announced as part of the voice cast of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as Margo Kess / Spider-Byte.[51]

Personal life

In 2016, Stenberg announced via Instagram that she would be studying filmmaking at New York University Tisch School of the Arts.[52][53][54] She ultimately decided against attending the school, as she found herself booking jobs, and instead chose to continue with her acting career.[55][56][57][58]

In January 2016, Stenberg came out as

non-binary,[63][64] and uses both she/her and they/them pronouns.[65][66] In June 2018, in an interview with Wonderland magazine, she came out as gay.[67][68]

From early 2018 to late 2018, Stenberg dated singer Mikaela Mullaney Straus, better known by her stage name King Princess.[69] 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.[70] In 2020, she spent three months living in Copenhagen in order to retain her Danish citizenship.[71]

Dazed magazine named Stenberg "one of the most incendiary voices of her generation" when it featured her on its Autumn 2015 cover.[72] She was included in Time's list of Most Influential Teens in 2015 and again in 2016.[2][3] In 2016, she was included in the SuperSoul 100 list of visionaries and influential leaders by Oprah Winfrey.[73]

Politics

Stenberg is an

WE Day California, a WE Charity event.[77]

In October 2023, Stenberg signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter to Joe Biden, President of the United States, calling for a ceasefire of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.[78]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2011 Colombiana Young Cataleya Restrepo
2012 The Hunger Games Rue
2013 Mercy Sarah Short film
2014 Rio 2 Bia Voice
2016 As You Are Sarah
2017 Everything, Everything Maddy Whittier
2018 The Darkest Minds Ruby Daly
The Hate U Give Starr Carter
Where Hands Touch Leyna
2021 Dear Evan Hansen Alana Beck
2022 Bodies Bodies Bodies Sophie [79]
2023 My Animal Jonny
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Margo Kess / Spider-Byte Voice [51]
2025 Wildwood † (voice) In production

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2012 A Taste of Romance Taylor Television film
2013–14 Sleepy Hollow Macey Irving 4 episodes
2015 Mr. Robinson Halle Foster 6 episodes
2017 Neo Yokio Helenist Episode: "O, the Helenists..."
2019 Drunk History Elizabeth Eckford Episode: "Trailblazers"
Gaslight Sarah Voice; 9 episodes
2020 The Eddy Julie Main role (8 episodes)
2022 Ziwe Penny Episode: "Critical Race Theory"
2023
RuPaul's Drag Race
 		Herself/Guest Judge Episode: "Supersized Snatch Game"
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked Herself Episode: "Untucked - Supersized Snatch Game"
2024 The Acolyte † Mae Main role; Post-production [80]

Music videos

Year Title Artist(s) Role Ref.
2016 "
Lemonade
" 		Beyoncé Herself [29]

Awards and nominations

Stenberg's accolades include an

Teen Choice Award, and nominations for four Black Reel Awards and a Critics' Choice Award
. She has also won awards for her activism.

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Stenberg uses she/her and they/them pronouns. This article uses she/her pronouns for consistency.

References

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External links

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