Biography
Who is Amandla Stenberg?
Early life and background
Amandla Stenberg was born in Los Angeles, California. Her parents are Karen Brailsford, who worked as a writer and spiritual counselor, and Tom Stenberg. She has two older half-sisters from her father's side of the family. Her paternal grandmother was Ena Stenberg, a radio personality and singer born in Greenland who later moved to Denmark. Ena Stenberg performed with a group called Mik at the New York World's Fair in 1964.
The name Amandla translates to power or strength in the Zulu and IsiXhosa languages. She began her career at age four by doing catalog modeling shoots for Disney. She also appeared in several television commercials for clients like Kmart and Boeing during her childhood years.
Acting career and major roles
In 2011, Amandla Stenberg made her feature film debut in Colombiana, portraying a younger version of a character played by Zoe Saldaña. Her major breakthrough occurred at age 12 when she was cast as Rue in the 2012 film The Hunger Games. Following this success, she appeared in the television series Sleepy Hollow between 2013 and 2014.
She received significant critical acclaim for her leading role as Starr Carter in the 2018 film The Hate U Give, which focused on the Black Lives Matter movement. Her performance earned her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. She also starred in the 2022 comedy horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies and played a dual role in the Star Wars series The Acolyte in 2024.
Music and creative projects
Outside of acting, Amandla Stenberg is also a musician. She debuted in 2015 as part of the folk rock duo Honeywater. She later performed the song Let My Baby Stay for the soundtrack of the 2017 film Everything, Everything. In 2024, she released a solo track titled Discourse, which addressed experiences with racial prejudice.
She is also a comics creator. She co-wrote the comic book series Niobe: She is Life with Sebastian Jones, which was published in 2015. This work was well-known for being a nationally distributed comic that featured a Black woman as the protagonist, author, and artist. A second part of the trilogy, Niobe: She is Death, was released in 2017.
Activism and personal life
Amandla Stenberg has been outspoken about her political views and social issues. She has identified as an intersectional feminist and has spoken publicly about cultural appropriation. She was named Feminist of the Year in 2015 by the Ms. Foundation for Women. She also signed an open letter in 2023 calling for a ceasefire regarding the war in Gaza.
In her personal life, she has shared details about her identity with the public. She came out as bisexual in 2016, later noting that pansexual was also an accurate term. She came out as non-binary that same year and has used both she/her and they/them pronouns. In 2018, she stated that she is gay.
Birthday and age
Amandla Stenberg was born on October 23, 1998, which makes Amandla 28 years old today. That birthday falls under the Scorpio sign. Amandla shares the date with 41 other famous people.
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