If you are a fan of up-and-coming star, Amandla Stenberg, you’ll be happy to find out she has just landed her first leading role in “Everything is Everything,” a movie adaptation of a young adult novel by Nicola Yoon.
The movie will tell the story of Maddy, a young girl who suffers from severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)—a condition that makes her allergic to nearly everything. The novel details her budding romance with a boy who moved in next door, Olly, after she’s been holed up in her home for 17 years.
Stenberg first began to register on most peoples’ radar following her role as Rue in The Hunger Games, though she had begun crafting her career far before that. Since then, the young star has received acclaim for her talent, style and voice.
She has appeared in media such as Fox’s Sleepy Hollow, NBC Universal’s Mr. Robinson, and the 2014 animated film Rio 2, among other works. She even can be seen among the many stars featured in Beyonce’s Lemonade, letting us know her accomplishments have also been noted by none other than Queen Bey herself.
Stenberg has been outspoken when it comes to speaking out against inequality—something many began to recognize after her school project video explaining the impact cultural appropriation, “Don’t Cash Crop My Cornrows,” went viral last year. Since then, she’s been continuously vocal about black issues, her own identity and relation to blackness, as well as things pertaining to women and sexuality.
But wait—that’s not all. This rising talent has also demonstrated her passion for directing and film creation. She has already scripted, directed, produced and edited a number of short films, including “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Blue Girls Burn Fast”—the latter which she submitted as her NYU application film. She will be studying directing and cinematography, she revealed in an interview with Dazed.
If there’s any one word Amandla can be described as, it’s “multifaceted,” as she seems to effortlessly weave in between career pathways, finding success in each she tries her hand at. Hopefully, this role will pave the way to more leading roles in this actress’s future.
