Amandla Stenberg

EARLY LIFE

Amandla Stenberg was born on October 23, 1998, in Los Angeles, California, to Karen Brailsford (an African-American spiritual counselor and writer) and Tom Stenberg (Danish). She has two older half-sisters on her father’s side. Through her paternal grandmother, Ena Stenberg (a Greenlandic Inuit radio personality and singer who performed with the group Mik and moved from Greenland to Denmark), she has Greenlandic Inuit ancestry. Her first name means “power” or “strength” in the South African languages of isiXhosa and Zulu. She began modeling at age four with Disney catalog shoots and appeared in commercials for brands including Boeing, Kmart, McDonald’s, and others. She showed early musical talent, playing violin (including with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Honors Orchestra), drums, and guitar.

CAREER

Stenberg’s acting career began with the role of young Cataleya in the action film Colombiana (2011). Her breakthrough came at age 13–14 as Rue in The Hunger Games (2012), which brought critical praise, awards attention (including Teen Choice Award recognition shared with Jennifer Lawrence), and widespread recognition. Subsequent roles include a recurring part on Sleepy Hollow (2013–2014), series regular Halle Foster on Mr. Robinson (2015), the lead in the romantic drama Everything, Everything (2017), and the critically acclaimed starring role of Starr Carter in The Hate U Give (2018), for which she earned an NAACP Image Award, an African-American Film Critics Association Award, and other nominations. Other notable credits include The Darkest Minds (2018), Where Hands Touch (2018), Alana Beck in the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen (2021; she also collaborated on a new song for the character), Sophie in the comedy-horror Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022; also executive producer), Jonny in My Animal (2023), voice roles as Bia in Rio 2 (2014), Margo Kess / Spider-Byte in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), and dual lead roles as the twins Verosha “Osha” Aniseya and Mae-ho “Mae” Aniseya in the Star Wars series The Acolyte (2024). Upcoming projects include Children of Blood and Bone (as Princess Amari) and voice work in Wildwood. She has also appeared in Beyoncé: Lemonade (2016), the Netflix series The Eddy (2020), and as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race. In music, she debuted in 2015 as part of the folk-rock duo Honeywater and later released the song “Let My Baby Stay” for the Everything, Everything soundtrack. In 2024 she released “Discourse,” addressing racial prejudice and online backlash. She co-wrote the comic book series Niobe: She is Life (2015) and Niobe: She is Death (2017) with Sebastian Jones (illustrated by Ashley A. Woods), noted for featuring a Black woman as protagonist with Black creative leadership.

PERSONAL LIFE

Stenberg came out as bisexual in January 2016 (later noting that pansexual was also accurate), as non-binary in March 2016 (using she/her and they/them pronouns), and as gay in a June 2018 interview with Wonderland magazine. She has been open about her identity and experiences, including writing a 2018 Teen Vogue op-ed in which she disclosed that she had experienced two separate instances of sexual assault. Past relationships include a reported period with Jaden Smith around 2015, a relationship with singer Mikaela Mullaney Straus (King Princess) from early to late 2018, and a relationship with singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan from 2018 to 2020. As of recent reports, she is not publicly linked to a partner. In 2020, she lived in Copenhagen for three months to retain her Danish citizenship. She has spoken about the impact of social media and smartphones on mental health and has at times stepped back from heavy online engagement.

Stenberg is an outspoken intersectional feminist and activist, particularly focused on LGBTQ+ youth, racial justice, cultural appropriation, and related issues. She was named Feminist of the Year by the Ms. Foundation for Women in 2015, appeared on Time’s Most Influential Teens lists in 2015 and 2016, and was included in Oprah Winfrey’s SuperSoul 100. She has spoken publicly about topics including police violence and cultural appropriation (notably her 2015 video response to Kylie Jenner’s cornrows). In 2023 she signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict. She has received recognition for both her performances and her advocacy, and continues to balance acting with music, writing, and public commentary while navigating the visibility and scrutiny that come with high-profile roles.