Amandla Stenberg feels a "responsibility" to only take on roles that serve a purpose.
Amandla Stenberg
The 'Hate U Give' actress wants to use her position for good and to be a positive role model, but she also wants to stay true to herself.
She said: "I feel a responsibility., but these are also the only sorts of roles I'm interested in.
"It's probably something my mom instilled in me.
"When I was younger, the only roles I would have received would be like, 'Daughter of a drug user' or 'overly sexuallised young black girl'. But she always said, 'No, we don't have to touch the roles you don't want to play.
"I don't really have interest in stereotypes of myself.
"Or putting myself in a light that robs me of the ability to do more activism."
While the 20-year-old star believes it's important to take "moral responsibility" and use her platform for good, she's understanding of those that don't follow her lead.
She told Britain's Grazia magazine: "I think it should be everyone's moral responsibility and not necessarily postulate it as really radical, because it's what we should all be doing.
"I have friends who exist within marginalised intersections of identity who have no interest in speaking out. Because they just want the ability to exist. And in many ways, I think that's enough."
Amandla hopes 'The Hate U Give' helps to humanise the Black Lives Matter movement and wants her character, Starr, to help other young girls "feel validated" in the way she did when she first read Angie Thomas' novel of the same time.
She said: "I felt like I had never seen anyone else like Starr in a book before. You know, a black girl who is multi-dimensional and nuanced and actually reflective of who we are as black girls and women...
"Hopefully playing [Black Lives Matter] within a personal narrative can help people understand the gravity of the situation. That we are a beautiful community who have experienced a lot."
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