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Anjelika Washington, a lead actress in Stargirl and Tall Girl, opens up about an uncomfortable early career experience involving a stunt double wearing blackface.
READ MORE: Tiffany Boone, Simone Missick and other Black women in Hollywood perform ‘A Black Woman Speaks’
The 22-year-old actress shared an Instagram post standing next to a non-Black woman sporting a kinky textured wig and a body covered in deep brown spray paint. Both women smile in the mirror selfie. Without naming the set or producer, the talent offers full details of the career-defining experience.
“Flashback to 2017. My 4th job as an actor, my first recurring guest star, and my first time having a stunt double— and they painted her black. I was very uncomfortable (as anyone would be to meet your double in blackface) so I spoke up for myself,” she writes in the lengthy caption.
She continues, “I pulled one of our producers aside and asked “Why isn’t my stunt double black like me? Isn’t that the point of a “double?” She responded “Sure. But we couldn’t find a black stunt double in LA. Los Angeles doesn’t have many black stunt performers. But aren’t you happy to be working? You should be thankful to be here.”
READ MORE: Hollywood still struggling to diversify in writers’ rooms
Unfortunately, the lack of diversity in Hollywood from executive positions trickles down to performers and stunt doubles. Washington notes that the practice painting white stunt talent to double as Black actors is not new and pushes for it to stop. Sharing a post on Twitter, the rising star uses the hashtags #hirepocstuntdoubles, #stoppaintdowns, and #EnoughIsEnough.
Her Instagram caption does not stop at sharing what she was told when she approached the production team, but unpacked the complex emotions provoked by the incident.
“I immediately started to question myself: “Do I sound ungrateful? Am I complaining? Maybe this is just how it is?” So I said “okay.”, I sat down in my chair, shut up, and tried to think positive thoughts. (Hence my smile in this photo) But really, I felt powerless, voiceless, and somehow ungrateful,” Washington expresses.
She continues by saying that many people of color are expected to simply not complain.
“See, there’s this oppressive thing that often happens when everyone and everything are ran by white people on sets (and in any industry) where they try to manipulate POC into just being GRATEFUL to be there. They do this to us because they know that they *literally* run the show,” she claims.
“They feel like a savior for giving a young black girl a role in their show, even though most times it’s just to check a box. They often don’t check to see if we are comfortable with what they are asking of us, they often call us unprofessional or a diva for advocating for ourselves, and most times they get away with paying us wayyy less than our costars.”
View her Instagram post below.
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