8 Dark-Skinned Actresses Who Deserve to be on The Big Screen as well

Written By Nah’Ja Washington

The premiere of the upcoming movie The Hate U Give trailer during the BET awards on June 28 recently sparked outrage over the casting of Amandla Stenberg as the main character Starr Carter. The Hate U Give which is based on the best selling novel by Audrey Wells describes Starr as a dark skinned young black woman with an afro, the cover of the novel shows this as well. Amandla Stenberg, a biracial light skin actress does not match this description. This comes as a surprise to fans of the actress as previously she spoke up about Hollywood’s issue with casting women of a darker complexion announcing that she rejected a role in Black Panther as a result of wanting a dark skin black actress to have the opportunity to offer representation to young black women. However this is not the first time that Hollywood has casted a lighter skinned black woman to play the role of a woman who is of darker skin Zoe Saldana has played Nina Simone and Marvel’s Storm who is depicted in several comic books as having dark skin has been played by Halle Berry. Yes we have come a long way with representation and in 2018 have more opportunities for black actresses to play leading roles in both movies and television, and yes some of these actresses do have a darker complexion such as Lupita Nyongo, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer. Despite this accomplishment there is still a long way to go.

After the premiere of The Hate U Give trailer many took to social media to express their thoughts on Hollywood’s issue with colorism. Many agreed that lighter skinned actresses such as Zoe Kravitz, Zendaya, Yara Shahidi, and Storm Reid are often offered more roles in television and film and as a result easy to name. However many could not name dark skinned black actresses near the same age as their lighter counterparts. In an attempt to stop end this overused excuse, here is a list of young dark skinned black actresses that both you and Hollywood should know.

 Skai Jackson (16)

Where have I seen her? Skai is most known for her role as a sassy little sister named Zuri on Disney Channel’s Jessie and it’s spinoff Bunk’d. 

Like her character Zuri, offscreen Skai is also strong and always stands up for herself. She previously went viral for clapping back at rapper Azelia Banks on Twitter.

Riele Downs (16)

Where have I seen her?

Riele Downs is a Canadian actresses most known for playing Charlotte on Nickelodeon’s Henry Danger. When she is not on screen Riele likes to design her own clothes and often wears her own creations on the red carpet. 

  Jessica Williams (28)

Where have I seen her?

Jessica Williams is a comedian and actresses who was previously a correspondent on The Daily Show. More recently she also starred in a Netflix movie called The Incredible Jessica Jones. Later this year Williams will star in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald as Professor Eulalie “Lally” Hicks. 

Priah Ferguson (11)

Where have I seen her? 

Last season of Stranger Things Priah stole our hearts as Erica Sinclair, Lucas’s little sister and queen of shade. 

Trinitee Stokes (12)

Where have I seen her?

Trinitee is most known for portraying Zendaya’s robot crime fighting little sister Judy on Disney Channel’s KC Undercover. Recently Trinitee stepped away from the screen and released a book called Bold and Blessed. With her book she aims to give girls like her advice on issues like rejection and learning to love yourself. 

Birgundi Baker (26)

Where have I seen her?

You may have seen Birgundi starring alongside Jacob Latimore as his girlfriend Keisha in Showtime’s hit series The Chi. She also stars as Lizzy on the Heathers reboot on TV land. 

Ashleigh Murray (30)

Ashleigh Murray plays Josie the lead singer of Josie And The Pussycats on the CW’S Riverdale. She also recently starred in a Netflix movie called Deidra and Laney Rob A Train. Offscreen she is a true style icon who is named on the best dressed list of every red carpet event she attends.

Lyric Ross (15)

Lyric Ross is most recently broke our hearts on This Is Us as Deja, Randall and Beth’s foster daughter.