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, she appeared in the TV series Sleepy Hollow (2013–2014) and the romance movie Everything, Everything (2017).

Stenberg was highly praised for her role in the drama film The Hate U Give (2018). In this movie, she played a teenager who saw a difficult event involving police. She gained more fame for her roles in the comedy horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) and the Star Wars series The Acolyte (2024).

Besides acting, Stenberg also makes music. She started in 2015 with the folk rock group Honeywater. She also sang "Let My Baby Stay" for the movie Everything, Everything. Amandla is also known for helping LGBT young people. Time magazine listed her as 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 writer. Her father, Tom Stenberg, is Danish. Her grandmother on her father's side had Greenlandic Inuit family roots. Amandla has two older half-sisters from her father's side.

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

Acting Career Highlights

First Roles and Breakthrough

In 2011, Amandla Stenberg was in her first big movie, Colombiana. She played a younger version of the main character. Her big break came when she was 14. She was chosen to play Rue in the 2012 movie The Hunger Games. This movie was very successful and critics liked it a lot. Stenberg's acting was also praised. She received several awards and nominations for her role.

In 2013, she acted in a short film called Mercy. She played the daughter of Robin Thicke and Paula Patton. Robin Thicke also directed this film. Stenberg had a role in the first season of the TV show Sleepy Hollow from 2013 to 2014.

Voice Acting and Other Projects

In 2014, Stenberg lent her voice to the character Bia in the animated movie Rio 2. This movie was also very popular. In 2015, she was a main character, Halle Foster, in the TV series Mr. Robinson.

In 2016, Stenberg appeared in Beyoncé: Lemonade, a visual album by Beyoncé. She also won the BET YoungStars Award that year. She signed with a modeling agency called The Society Management. Also in 2016, Stenberg considered playing Shuri in the superhero movie Black Panther. However, she decided not to take the role. She felt someone else would be a better fit. The role eventually went to actress Letitia Wright.

In 2017, she starred in the romantic drama Everything, Everything. Stella Meghie directed it, and Nick Robinson co-starred with her. Stenberg's performance was well-received, and she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award.

Gaining Wider Recognition

In 2018, Amandla Stenberg played the main character, Starr Carter, in the drama movie The Hate U Give. This film was based on a book about a young person dealing with social justice issues. The movie was liked by many, and Stenberg's acting received great reviews. A film critic from Rolling Stone said her performance was amazing. The director of the film, George Tillman Jr., said she makes you feel like you are seeing something real. She won an NAACP Image Award and was nominated for a Critics' Choice Award for this role. Later in 2018, Stenberg also starred in the World War II drama Where Hands Touch.

In May 2019, she joined the cast of the Netflix mini-series The Eddy, which came out in May 2020. That same month, she agreed to star in a new version of the 1996 thriller movie Fear.

In August 2020, she was cast as Alana Beck in the movie Dear Evan Hansen. This film was based on a Broadway musical. She also worked with the show's composers to create a new song for her character, called "The Anonymous Ones."

In 2021, Stenberg was chosen for a main role in the Star Wars series The Acolyte. In May 2023, it was announced she would be a voice actor in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. She voiced Margo Kess / Spider-Byte.

Other Activities

Activism and Speaking Out

Amandla Stenberg is a feminist who believes in equality for all people. 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, which is when elements of a culture are used by someone from another culture without understanding or respect. Her video "Don't Cash Crop My Cornrows" addressed this topic. In April 2016, Stenberg gave a speech at WE Day California, an event that encourages young people to make a difference.

In October 2023, Stenberg signed a public letter asking for peace in a conflict happening in Gaza.

Music Ventures

In 2015, Stenberg released her first music collection (EP) as part of the folk rock duo Honeywater. In 2017, she sang "Let My Baby Stay" for the soundtrack of the movie Everything, Everything.

In June 2024, Stenberg released a song called "Discourse." This song was made to talk about unfair comments she has faced. The song refers to an interview she had in 2018 where she talked about her movie The Hate U Give.

Writing Projects

Stenberg helped write a comic book called Niobe: She is Life with Sebastian Jones. It was released in November 2015. This comic book was special because it was the first widely distributed comic with a black woman as the main character, and also had a black woman as the author and another as the artist. In 2017, Stenberg and Sebastian Jones released Niobe: She is Death, which was the second part of the story.

Personal Life

In January 2016, Stenberg shared that she identifies as bisexual. Later, she said that pansexual also described her well. In March of that year, Stenberg shared that she identifies as non-binary. She uses both she/her and they/them pronouns. In June 2018, she shared in an interview that she identifies as gay.

In a July 2017 interview, Stenberg mentioned that she had stopped using a smartphone. She believed that these devices and social media could affect mental health in a negative way.

During 2020, Stenberg lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, for three months. This was to keep her Danish citizenship.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film Roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
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
2025	Wildwood		Voice; In production

Television Roles

Music Videos

Images for kids

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  Stenberg at the Academy Awards in 2019

See also

In Spanish: Amandla Stenberg para niños