Cynthia Erivo successful Wicked

Cynthia was thrilled to spotlight Elphaba's communicative of marginalization and resilience. As she told Variety successful November 2024, "I anticipation it's a spot of a emotion missive to everyone who feels different, who feels retired of place, to each of the Black women who person walked into rooms and felt similar they haven't been welcomed."

She proudly wore the role, adjacent paying homage to her Black individuality by styling the witch's historically wavy hairsbreadth successful micro braids.

"I asked if we could reimagine that hairsbreadth arsenic micro braids due to the fact that I knew you'd inactive person the movement," Cynthia told the outlet the pursuing month, "and you could inactive person the length, but determination was a texture that was somewhat antithetic to what you would usually spot connected stage, and it was a nonstop transportation betwixt maine arsenic a Black pistillate and Elphaba arsenic a greenish lady."

When it came to the storyline, the Tony victor felt it was indispensable to research the analyzable layers of the Black experience.

"I deliberation I've had immoderate clip to reckon with the tegument I'm successful and to beryllium comfy walking into a country and being the lone one," she explained to Refinery29 astatine the time, "people looking astatine maine and not needfully seeing beauty, but having to find that for myself and judge each of the things I am, find my ain quality and beryllium capable to telephone myself beautiful, careless of what different radical think."

"What I wanted for Elphaba was that erstwhile she walks into a room, the tegument she's successful is not caller to her," she continued. "It's thing that she's lived with her full full life, and truthful determination has to beryllium confidence, different she would ne'er permission the house. I felt like, wherefore would she not beryllium assured successful what she looks similar if it's what she knows each azygous day?"

Halle Bailey successful The Little Mermaid

Halle, who was portion of Disney's satellite arsenic Princess Ariel successful 2023's live-action The Little Mermaid, felt a heavy transportation to the mermaid's story.

"Her consciousness of longing, her searching for herself, was thing that I could resonate with," she told Variety successful August 2022. "She knew wherever she wanted to go, and she wasn't going to fto anybody halt her."

Amid the onslaught of criticism, Halle emphasized the value of divers representation, particularly successful children's media.

"What that would person done for me, however that would person changed my confidence, my content successful myself, everything," she added. "Things that look truthful tiny to everyone else, it's truthful large to us."

She took the relation very seriously, going to the gym astatine 5 a.m. each time and spending hours practicing stunts.

"I'm trying to clasp myself up with my halfway portion singing and portion acting and trying to look similar I'm not shaking due to the fact that it's similar a workout I'm doing, similar a plank," she told USA Today in May 2023. "So it was each of the things, trying to weave them unneurotic and look like, 'This is natural, this is simply a mean day, I aquatics successful the water each day.'"

Zendaya in Spider-Man

Although Zendaya swung into our hearts arsenic Michelle Jones (MJ) successful 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming with Tom Holland arsenic the masked superhero, critics weren't thrilled with a biracial emotion interest.

In erstwhile iterations of the Marvel comic book, Spider-Man's emotion interests person ever been white. Kirsten Dunst starred arsenic Mary Jane other Tobey Maguire successful Sam Raimi's trilogy and Emma Stone played Gwen Stacy successful Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man.  

"People are going to respond implicit anything," Zendaya said of the backlash to The Hollywood Reporter successful November 2016. However, successful a satellite of make-believe, thing astir the character's individuality "is fact," she noted. "It's like, you guys are conscionable making s--t up astatine this constituent and past reacting to it."

Despite the critiques, the Challengers actress, who got engaged to Tom successful January 2025, knows that her casting mirrors reality.

"Of course, there's going to beryllium outrage implicit that because, for immoderate reason, immoderate radical conscionable aren't ready," she continued. "I'm like, 'I don't cognize what America you unrecorded in, but from what I spot erstwhile I locomotion extracurricular my streets of New York close now, I spot tons of diverseness and I spot the existent satellite and it's beautiful, and that's what should beryllium reflected and that's what is reflected truthful you're conscionable going to person to get implicit it.'"

Brandy successful Cinderella

In 1997's Cinderella, Brandy's diamond tiara sat perfectly connected her braids and her babe bluish formal acceptable similar a glove. But beyond her royally adorable ensemble, the "I Do It For You" vocalist ushered successful practice with the astir unexpected princess.

"I knew that this was truthful large for the satellite to see, particularly Black people," she reflected connected Good Morning America successful August 2022. "She represented a civilization that is beautiful, and I conscionable truthful appreciated that due to the fact that that was truthful overmuch a portion of what I wanted to bring to Cinderella." 

"That movie changed the mode Black small girls believed successful themselves," she said. "I perceive to this day, 'I judge I tin beryllium a princess present due to the fact that of you.'"

Although Brandy's relation successful the colorblind casted movie was revolutionary, she admitted that she didn't recognize the value of it portion filming.

"I knew that it was special, but I didn't truly cognize however special," she shared with Vulture successful February 2021. "When I was capable to spot it each travel unneurotic and spot the finished merchandise of it, I was like, 'Wow, this is different.' This is thing I had ne'er seen. It inspired me. It was arsenic if I wasn't adjacent watching maine arsenic Cinderella."

Tessa Thompson in Thor: Ragnarok

The Marvel prima ever knew she was much than worthy erstwhile portraying Valkyrie successful Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder and The Marvels contempt disapproval that she didn't look similar the comic publication character. Nonetheless, Tessa proved she could beryllium a warrior erstwhile she enactment connected her armor.

"We person truthful galore conversations, peculiarly now, astir practice successful film," she explained to Entertainment Weekly successful May 2017. "The unfortunate happening astir a batch of these phantasy movies is erstwhile they're based connected root material, a batch of these comics were written successful a clip erstwhile that wasn't a portion of the speech arsenic acold arsenic having representation. Not conscionable having characters that bespeak the satellite we unrecorded successful but however we correspond the characters."

In fact, she pointed retired that successful the comics, Valkyrie's outfit is fundamentally "a bathing suit."

"We had a speech of, what is simply a beardown look?" she added. "She should astir apt beryllium successful pants. That astir apt makes much consciousness for the benignant of enactment she's doing. And we had conversations astir her benignant of feeling similar a tomboy and having a definite masculinity astir her portion inactive being precise overmuch a woman."

Amandla Stenberg in The Hunger Games

Although Rue was described arsenic having acheronian tegument successful the Hunger Games novels, fans were amazed that Amandla played the District 11 tribute successful the 2012 film. In fact, she recalled fans believing her character's decease was "less sad" due to the fact that of her race.

"While it was hurtful erstwhile I was 12, it wasn't shocking," she told BuzzFeed News successful 2018. "The irony of the full concern was that Rue was 1 of the lone characters I could find successful the contented I loved that was virtually written arsenic Black." 

The acquisition was yet a acquisition for Amandla. Since then, she's had the accidental to prima successful movies similar Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Hate U Give and Everything, Everything.

"We're getting truly bully Black roles for Black women that are starring roles, and projects wherever Black women are astatine the helm and Black people are astatine the helm," she explained to the outlet. "I deliberation that's truly exhilarating, and I consciousness fortunate to travel of property astatine a clip erstwhile that's truly happening.