Amandla Stenberg facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Amandla Stenberg
Stenberg at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	(1998-10-23) October 23, 1998 (age 26) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Citizenship	United States Denmark
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2011–present

Amandla Stenberg (born October 23, 1998) is an American actress. She started acting when she was a child. She became well-known for playing Rue in the action movie The Hunger Games (2012).

As she got older, Amandla appeared in the TV series Sleepy Hollow (2013–2014). She also starred in the romance film Everything, Everything (2017). She earned praise for her role in The Hate U Give (2018). In this drama, she played a teenager who sees a police shooting. More recently, she starred in the comedy horror movie Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022). She also appeared in the Star Wars series The Acolyte (2024).

Besides acting, Amandla Stenberg also makes music. In 2015, she started a folk rock duo called Honeywater. She also sang the song "Let My Baby Stay" for the movie Everything, Everything. Amandla is also known for supporting LGBTQ youth. Time magazine named her one of the most influential teens in 2015 and 2016.

Early Life and Beginnings

Amandla Stenberg was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Karen Brailsford, is an African-American spiritual counselor and writer. Her father, Tom Stenberg, is Danish. Amandla has two older half-sisters from her father's side.

Her family history includes Greenlandic Inuit roots. Her paternal grandmother, Ena Stenberg, was born in Greenland. She moved to Denmark when Greenland was under Danish rule. Ena was a radio personality and singer in Denmark. She even performed at the World’s Fair in New York in 1964.

Amandla's first name means "power" or "strength." These words come from the South African languages of IsiXhosa and Zulu. When she was four years old, Amandla started modeling for Disney catalogs. She also appeared in commercials for companies like Boeing and Kmart.

In 2016, Amandla shared that she planned to study filmmaking. She was going to attend New York University Tisch School of the Arts. However, she decided not to go. She kept getting acting jobs and chose to continue her acting career instead.

Acting Career Highlights

Early Roles and Breakthrough

In 2011, Amandla Stenberg appeared in her first full-length movie, Colombiana. She played a younger version of the main character. Her big break came when she was 14 years old. She was cast as Rue in the 2012 movie The Hunger Games. This film was very successful and critics praised Amandla's acting. She received several awards and nominations for her role.

In 2013, she acted in the short film Mercy. She played the daughter of characters played by Robin Thicke and Paula Patton. From 2013 to 2014, Stenberg had a recurring role in the first season of Sleepy Hollow.

In 2014, Amandla voiced the character Bia in the animated movie Rio 2. This film was also a big success. In 2015, she played Halle Foster in the TV series Mr. Robinson.

In 2016, Amandla appeared in Beyoncé: Lemonade by Beyoncé. She also won the BET YoungStars Award that year. She signed with a modeling agency called The Society. Amandla also auditioned for the role of Shuri in the superhero movie Black Panther. However, she decided not to take the role. She felt it was better for someone else to play the part. The role went to actress Letitia Wright.

In 2017, she starred in the romantic drama Everything, Everything. She played Maddy Whittier, a girl who cannot leave her house. Critics praised her performance, and she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award.

Mainstream Success

Amandla Stenberg at the Academy Awards in 2019

In 2018, Amandla played the main character, Starr Carter, in The Hate U Give. This drama is based on a book about the Black Lives Matter movement. The movie was well-received, and Amandla's acting earned her much praise. A film critic from Rolling Stone said her performance was amazing. The film's director, George Tillman Jr., noted her dedication to the role. She won several awards for this part, including an African-American Film Critics Association Award and an NAACP Image Award. She was also nominated for a Critics' Choice Award. Later in 2018, Stenberg starred in the World War II drama Where Hands Touch.

In 2019, Amandla portrayed Elizabeth Eckford in a segment on a television show. Elizabeth Eckford was one of the Little Rock Nine. These were nine Black students who faced challenges entering a racially segregated high school in 1957. In May 2019, Amandla joined the cast of the Netflix miniseries The Eddy, which came out in May 2020.

In August 2020, she was cast as Alana Beck in the movie Dear Evan Hansen. This film is based on a Broadway musical. Amandla also worked with the show's composers to create a new song for her character. In 2021, Stenberg was chosen for a main role in the Star Wars series The Acolyte. In May 2023, she was announced as a voice actor for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. She voiced the character Margo Kess / Spider-Byte.

Other Activities

Activism and Advocacy

Amandla Stenberg is an intersectional feminist. This means she believes in equal rights for all people, considering different parts of their identity. She often shares her views in interviews and on social media. In 2015, the Ms. Foundation for Women named her "Feminist of the Year."

She has spoken publicly about cultural appropriation. This is when elements of a culture are used by members of another culture, often without understanding or respect. In 2015, she released a video called "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows." In this video, she talked about Kylie Jenner adopting a traditionally African-American hairstyle. In April 2016, Amandla gave a speech at WE Day California, an event by WE Charity.

In October 2023, Amandla Stenberg signed an open letter called Artists4Ceasefire. This letter asked Joe Biden, the President of the United States, to call for a ceasefire in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Music Projects

In 2015, Amandla released her first music EP. It was part of a folk rock duo called Honeywater. In 2017, she sang "Let My Baby Stay" for the soundtrack of the movie Everything, Everything.

On June 19, 2024, Amandla Stenberg released a song called "Discourse." She created this song to talk about the unfair treatment she has faced. The song mentions an interview she had in 2018 with Trevor Noah from The Daily Show.

Writing

Amandla Stenberg co-wrote a comic book series. The first part, Niobe: She is Life, was published in November 2015. She wrote it with Sebastian Jones, and Ashley A. Woods created the illustrations. This comic book was special because it was the first widely distributed comic with a Black woman as the main character, author, and artist. In 2017, Amandla and Sebastian Jones released the second part, Niobe: She is Death.

Personal Life

Amandla Stenberg has been open about her identity. In January 2016, she shared that she was bisexual. Later, she said that pansexual was also an accurate term for her. In March of that year, Amandla shared that she is non-binary. She uses both she/her and they/them pronouns. In June 2018, she shared in an interview that she is gay.

In July 2017, Amandla mentioned that she had stopped using a smartphone. She believed that these devices and social media could affect mental health negatively.

From early 2018 to late 2018, Amandla dated singer Mikaela Mullaney Straus, known as King Princess. From 2018 to 2020, she was in a relationship with singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan.

In 2020, Amandla lived in Copenhagen for three months. This was to keep her Danish citizenship.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

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	Also executive producer
2023	My Animal	Jonny
	Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse	Margo Kess / Spider-Byte	Voice
	Ozi: Voice of the Forest	Ozi	Voice
2026	Wildwood		Voice; In production
2027	Children of Blood and Bone	Princess Amari	Filming

Television

Music videos

Awards and Recognitions

Amandla Stenberg is most recognized for her acting in The Hate U Give (2018). For this movie, she won many awards for Best Actress and Best Breakthrough Performance. These included an African-American Film Critics Association Award, a Hollywood Film Award, and an NAACP Image Award. She was also nominated for a Critics' Choice Award and an MTV Movie & TV Award.

Her first nominations were for The Hunger Games (2012). Her first win was the BET YoungStars Award when she was 17. She also received nominations for her role in the drama film Everything, Everything (2017).

See also

In Spanish: Amandla Stenberg para niños