Saniyya Sidney facts for kids

Saniyya Sidney (born October 30, 2006) is a talented American actress. She has been nominated for many important awards, including the Black Reel Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, NAACP Image Award, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Saniyya started her acting journey in independent and short films. She became well-known for her role in the horror TV series American Horror Story: Roanoke in 2016. Her big break came with the historical drama film Fences (2016). For this movie, she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her amazing performance with the cast.

She also appeared in the true-story film Hidden Figures (2016) and the superhero movie Fast Color (2018). Saniyya then earned praise for her main role in the FOX vampire drama The Passage (2019). Later, she played a young Venus Williams in the film King Richard (2021). For her role as Venus, she was nominated for the Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer.

Saniyya's Acting Journey

Early Roles and Big Breaks

Saniyya Sidney started acting in 2012. Her first role was Amity in a short horror film called The Babysitters. She then appeared as a guest star, playing Kizzy Waller, in the TV miniseries Roots.

In 2016, Saniyya got a recurring role as Flora Harris in the horror TV series American Horror Story: Roanoke. This role helped her become more widely recognized. That same year, she starred in two critically acclaimed films. She played Raynell Maxson in the historical drama Fences. She also played Constance Johnson in the true-story drama Hidden Figures. Both movies were released in December 2016. For Fences, she was nominated for the Critics' Choice Movie Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award for her work with the cast.

Leading Roles and Recognition

Saniyya's next role was Lila in the superhero film Fast Color. She played the daughter of the main character, Ruth. The movie first showed at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2018 and was released in theaters the next year.

In January 2019, Saniyya took on the main role of Amy Bellafonte in the FOX series The Passage. Her performance in this show was highly praised, even though the series only ran for one season. In the same year, she appeared as Riley in the Netflix comedy special Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History, which came out in February.

Playing Venus Williams and Future Projects

In 2021, Saniyya starred in the biographical drama film King Richard. She played Venus Williams, the famous tennis player, alongside Will Smith. Saniyya had never played tennis before this role. She learned to play just like Venus, even though Saniyya is left-handed and Venus plays right-handed.

Critics praised her performance, with Variety magazine saying she handled both the dramatic and athletic parts of her character very well. She received several awards and nominations for this role, including nominations for the Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer.

As of 2025, Saniyya is set to appear in The First Lady for Showtime. In this series, she will play Sasha Obama. In January 2022, it was announced that Saniyya would play Claudette Colvin in the drama film Spark. This movie is the first film directed by Anthony Mackie.

Saniyya's Film and TV Appearances

Movies

Television Shows

Awards and Nominations

Saniyya Sidney has been recognized for her acting with many awards and nominations.

Individual Awards

Awards for Ensemble (Group) Performances

See also

In Spanish: Saniyya Sidney para niños