Amandla Stenberg

“You don't have to force your career to happen all at once.”

“I often find myself in situations where I am the token black person. It can feel like this enormous weight.”

“I'm really passionate about representation in film. I feel like the world is dominated by such a small group of human beings. There are so many different kinds of people that aren't represented, that don't have characters who look like them.”

“I really love my hair. I really embrace it, and I'm so glad that I made the decision to wear it natural.”

“Within months after reading the novel 'The Hunger Games,' I went from telling my mom that I could see myself as this character to actually getting the role. My mother reminds me that if I could manifest such an important role just because I wanted it so much, all of my dreams are possible.”

“I knew when I was about 14 that I wanted to be a director and that I wanted to go to NYU for film school.”

“My mom reminds me that all things are possible.”

“I've read the 'Mortal Instruments' series; I was obsessed with those.”

“I'm just someone who cannot fake it. I can only do something with my full heart invested or just not do it at all.”

“Growing up, I was always super into fantasy and 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Game of Thrones' and all of that, but I could never find black characters whom I really liked.”

“I love all kinds of art. I mean, I love sketching and acting and music.”

“I think 'The Hunger Games' has a really powerful message about survival, and sacrificing for the ones you love. It's almost like a warning for us to not lose touch of our humanity. We live in a world in which we watch other's misfortunes for entertainment.”

“I think something that's really important to me is trying to do what I can from my position of power that comes with having a social media platform to dismantle certain systems that I think are really gross and harmful.”