Despite evidence that films with diverse casts enjoy higher box office receipts than their non-diverse counterparts, on-screen racial inclusivity is still a rarity. This was on Amandla Stenberg’s mind when she first received the script for Stella Meghie’s “Everything, Everything,” a teen romance based on Nicola Yoon’s YA novel.
“I figured it was one of those instances where I was receiving a script for a YA romance project that was intended for a white actress,” Stenberg told Janelle Monáe in a Teen Vogue interview. “I thought maybe they’d float the idea of casting it in a more diverse manner but that ultimately it wouldn’t end up going that direction, because that’s happened to me a lot.”
But the “Hunger Games” actress reconsidered when she found out that the novel was written by a black woman, and that the film adaptation would be “intentionally diverse.”
“I’d never seen a story like this made for an interracial couple,” Stenberg observed. “I see the incredible power of infiltrating these larger movies that show a lot of people who we are and how diverse and beautiful our community is. I thought it would be really powerful to see a black girl [lead] character like Maddy who is joyous and creative and dimensional specifically marketed to teenagers and young adults. We don’t always get to see black women carrying that energy.”
Stenberg’s enthusiasm for playing Maddy — a young woman whose rare illness keeps her confined to her home — is understandable. As we’ve recently reported, stereotypes about gender and race are still all-too frequent in film. Women are often relegated to non-essential, background roles and aren’t given emotional complexity. Characters of color, meanwhile, do not have as much dialogue to work with. For example, non-white characters tend to swear and talk about sex more than their white counterparts. So women of color’s on-screen representation is (usually) especially disappointing.
Since its May release, “Everything, Everything” has grossed nearly $52 million worldwide on a budget of $10 million, outperforming box office expectations. The film also stars Anika Noni Rose, Ana de la Reguera, and Nick Robinson.
Stenberg’s next film is “Where Hands Touch,” from “A United Kingdom” director Amma Asante. The film follows the romance between a young mixed-race girl (Stenberg) and the son (George MacKay) of an SS officer in 1944 Germany. Sony Pictures acquired most of the film’s international rights earlier this year at Cannes. “Where Hands Touch” doesn’t have a U.S. premiere yet but is expected to open later this year.
Head over to Teen Vogue to read the rest of Stenberg and Monáe’s conversation.
