Entertainment

Black actors who excelled in white roles

Credit: The Cut

Zendaya Coleman

Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman is an actress and a singer. She started out as a child model and backup dancer, before becoming popular for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel Sitcom Shake It Up. She has a thriving career in music; she signed with Hollywood Records in 2012 and has released songs like “Replay”, “Swag It Out” and “Watch Me” which have done considerably well on the world charts.

Over the years, a number of actors have played the character of MJ, the love interest of superhero Spiderman. The character is depicted in the comics as a pale redhead and has been played by actors Kirsten Dunst in the original Sony Spider-Man film series and by Shailene Woodley in scenes that were deleted from The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Credit: Teen Vogue

When Zendaya was cast in the role, there were protests from some fans of the comics with regards to the obvious disparity in skin and hair colour. She went ahead anyway to deliver a stellar performance in the role, earning her a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress in 2018.

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Adom Tabbey-Botchwey

Unabashed millennial, reader of signposts and everything else in between.

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