Casting, Colourism, Children of Blood and Bone.
By Lyza Lawal
The movie adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone, the first instalment of Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, is officially on the way with the cast list revealed in time for its scheduled 2027 release. The trilogy follows Zélie Adebola, a girl with magical powers trying to bring back to her community while fighting against oppression. The path from book to screen has been almost eight years in the making, with Fox 2000 acquiring the rights to the book in 2018 before it had even been published. Children of Blood and Bone is much loved within the book community due to its connection to African culture and mythology as well as its social commentary. It has sold three million copies worldwide and won Tomi Adeyemi various awards and critical acclaim.
The exclusive Variety report released on the 22nd of January, shared that Thuso Mbedu, Amandla Stenberg, Damson Idris, Tosin Cole, Viola Davis, Cynthia Eviro, Idris Elba, Lashana Lynch, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, have been cast in the movie adaptation generating strong responses from the book community that has been so invested in this casting.
(Mbedu: IMBD, Cole: entertainment.ie, Idris: IMBD, Stenberg: Sleepy Hallow Wiki, Davis:, Eviro: IMBD, Idris: Rotten Tomatoes, Lynch: Rotten Tomatoes)
Unfortunately, not all of the discourse has been positive. Some of the critiques come from the disappointment of the lack of explicit Yoruba representation, particularly Yoruba female actors. The Yoruba people are a West African ethnic group that is mainly in Nigeria but also in Ghana, Togo and Benin. Much of the controversy, however, is focused on the casting of Amandla Stenberg, a biracial actress, as Princess Amari, a character who is described in the book as “copper complexion” (pg 34). The first book in this series deals with many socio-cultural issues including colourism and fatphobia. Princess Amari is maltreated by others and told that “She’s far too dark” (pg 34). Based on these descriptions many fans may read this as Princess Amari having a darker copper complexion, especially because copper is an undertone but also points to medium brown skin tones. In addition, a Writer’s Skin Palette guide created by Entropyalarm also affirms the use of copper as a descriptor to denote a Black person with deep red undertones. While we do not know what guide Tomi Adeyemi used to create the character's features, this Writer's Skin Palette provides an example and contextualises why many fans are dissatisfied with the casting.
Many fans expressed their discontent with this casting choice on social media, noting that the casting conflicts with the issues addressed in the book. This is not the first time that questions have been raised regarding Amandla Stenberg’s selection in movie adaptations, where the book character is described as having darker skin. In the film The Hate You Give (2018), she played Star Carter, a sixteen-year-old Black girl, who was depicted as dark-skinned on the original book cover.
Despite the controversy this caused, author Angie Thomas stood by the casting decision, stating “I can't see anyone else playing this role”. Amandla Stenberg also addressed the issue, stating “I understand my role in the quest for onscreen diversity and the sensitivity I must have towards the colourism that I do not experience." Since then, it seemed that she had taken proper steps to acknowledge her privilege in Hollywood as a lighter-skinned woman, and especially her privilege as a biracial person.
(Book cover and movie poster)
During Black Panther (2018) promotions, she stated that she walked away from her role because “[she] I recognize 100 percent that there are spaces that I should not take up", due to her lighter complexion. She also explained that it would be “off for her to be a biracial American playing a Black character with a Nigerian/African accent.” While many social media users expressed gratitude for her stepping away from the role, some felt it was disrespectful to discuss the issue while Letitia Wright had the spotlight on her, as this was a movie centering on African culture and Black people, especially because Black women in Hollywood. In addition, Amandla Stenberg has discussed cultural appropriation and its impact, specifically addressing celebrity Kylie Jenner. It’s clear that Amandla Stenberg has an understanding of privilege, access, representation and the sensitive issue of colourism. So, it is interesting that the role of Princess Amari is one she chose to accept. This character, whose visual representation in the illustrated second edition copy of the book, couldn’t look more different than Amandla Stenberg. This choice suggests a disconnect between her current choice to accept this role, and what she has said in the past.
Tomi Adeyemi stated in an interview that Children of Blood and Bone is an allegory for the modern Black experience. While it is noble for her to use Princess Amari’s character to address colourism, the casting of the character itself is a colourist act. The reality is that women who look like Amandla Stenberg are not systematically affected by colourism in the same way darker-skinned Black women are. This begs the question, how will these scenes where Princess Amari deals with colourism, be addressed in the on-screen adaption? Will they be removed, or will we have a Zoe Saldana Blackface situation like in the Nina Simone biography, Nina (2016)?
(Simone: The Gaurdian, Saldana: Classic FM)
Besides Amandla Stenberg’s casting, there were other issues expressed by fans of the book. Some noted that the main cast is comprised largely of Black diaspora actors and not actors from Nigeria. With the open casting that took place in Nigeria last year, many were left confused as to why Viola Davis, a Black American, was cast as Mama Agba, an older Yoruba woman. In terms of the cast announced thus far, four of the cast members are of Nigerian origin, yet all are British. Out of the four, two of them are Igbo and two are Yoruba. This was a missed opportunity to platform and highlight Yoruba Nollywood talent through actors such as Shola Shobowale, Funke Akindele, Funsho Adeolu, Oga Bello, Jide Kosoko, Lanre Hassan, Idowu Phillips, and more. It seems that this casting was focused on what would make Black Western audiences buy tickets. While that is understandable, it is sad that a story based on Yoruba culture, language and mythology does not have Yoruba actors from Nigeria, this could have been a great opportunity to bring the Nollywood industry into “mainstream.”
A personal interview with an (anonymous) actress who auditioned for the character of Princess Amari stated that they were put in by their agent to audition for Amari and were shocked to find out that the final role went to Amandla Stenberg. They also stated that because the “book had such a big cult following there was no need to have Hollywood actors and Western actors as the movie would still be successful if they used no-name, new and or non-Hollywood actors.” Furthermore, they said that the issue is not about skill, but culture and the erasure of darker-skinned women and their stories on screen.
If we compare Children of Blood and Bone (2018) to other young adult franchises, such as Harry Potter, Divergent, Maze Runner, and the Hunger Games, these movies were usually the big breaks for most of the leading casts (Jennifer Lawrence, Dylan O’Brien, Shailene Woodley, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, etc). Nevertheless, these casts often had a mix of new talent and experienced celebrity actors within lead roles. For example, Harry Potter casted young actors for the roles of Harry, Hermione and Ron but also had Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw and Zoe Wanamaker. However, the difference here is that Children of Blood and Bone is a Black film and will be catergorised as such, meaning they may not have the same chance that White adaptations get because of the systematic racism in Hollywood. Especially when it goes to projects with majority Black casts getting green-lit, it is possible that making the cast all well-known actors who have been in both Woman King and Black Panther makes the project easier to be greenlit by the production company. Essentially, new talent may not be able to get ‘bums in seats’ in the movie theatres, the way Viola Davis, Cynthia Evrio and Damson Idris can.
Unfortunately, it seems that the direction of the film’s casting does not reflect the experiences, issues, and themes that the book deals with. With many of the cast having been in the movies Women King (2022) or Black Panther (2018), it could be said that the team wants a Black Panther 2.0 type of success or cultural impact. But what Tomi Adeyemi and the production company failed to consider is that Children of Blood and Bone is not made up of an amalgamation of various African cultures like Black Panther (2018), but is specifically and explicitly based on Yoruba culture. This means that there is a level of sensitivity and accuracy needed.
On TikTok especially, there is a divide between Black American fans and Nigerian fans of the series. Nigerian Booktokkers are expressing their lack of shock as the book itself misrepresents and appropriates Yoruba culture to pander to Western audiences. Other Nigerian commentators noted that the book was not meant for Nigerian consumers, as the way the story is told and how Yoruba culture is used, shows that they were never the intended audience. This means that Nigerians, specifically Yoruba people, are reduced to bystanders in stories that are based on their own culture. Moyin, a Booktokker (here), noted that the names of the characters are not accurate to the Yoruba language with Zélie being cited as an example: “where do you see Z in the Yoruba language?”. Black American commentators noted that they weren’t aware of this cultural misrepresentation. While this could be seen as nitpicking as a result of discontent towards the casting, there are legitimate concerns with how Yoruba culture will be represented in Hollywood.
Lastly, Tomi Adeyemi’s blithe responses haven’t helped to quell the strong feelings about the casting decisions, as she brushed off upset fans in various comment sections with statements such as “love seeing you guys talking about my #1 best selling trilogy book and upcoming movie”. While Tomi Adeyemi’s accomplishments are a great feat, it is not a good move to create distance between your original fanbase and the movie adaptation, as they are the ones who will most likely invest in the movie before non-book lovers do. It is important for Tomi Adeyemi to acknowledge the opinions of her main audience, as they have been following the series since the beginning and supported the book, which got her to where she is now.
On the 11th of February 2025, Amandla Stenberg responded to the colourism ‘allegations’ on TikTok. Her response was underwhelming. She stated that the allegations of her stealing roles from dark-skinned women started from her casting in The Hate You Give. Despite her apologising, years prior, she mentions that Angie Thomas chose her because of her activism and that she was calling out cultural appropriation online. In reference to Children of Blood and Bone, Amandla Stenberg stated that based on fan art and research, which she provided screenshots for, she looked like the character. However, she did not refer to the illustration from the special edition copy.
Amandla Stenberg also referenced her conversation with Tomi Adeyemi. According to Tomi Adeyemi, Amandla Stenberg’s experience of racism while playing Rue in The Hunger Games inspired her to write the Legacy of Orïsha series, so that Black girls of all shades could have a story that represents them. The issue of her casting is multi-layered with colourism being one of the issues.
Some also note that Amandla is of non-Nigerian descent and biracial, thus her playing a character that existed in a pre-colonial historical context is not a good casting choice. While her response was much better than Tomi Adeyemi’s, it is disingenuous at best. Her response highlights the underlying issue with colourism, which is how oppression is highlighted and amplified when victims are of a lighter skin tone.
The final product may not be as disastrous as we think. The cast is highly skilled, and while concerns over the accent and how the Yoruba language will be used are valid, we can hope that they invest in at least getting the accent as close to an authentic Yoruba accent as possible. It is safe to say that this movie adaptation is not for Nigerians or Yoruba people, but for Black Western audiences; It is for the diaspora. Nevertheless, the casting of Amandla is unfortunate and disappointing. It seems there are no plans to address this issue in the long term, like most colourist casting controversies.
