Zoe Kravitz Is Tired of Being Typecast as the "Quirky Black Girl"

She's had to fight against being pigeonholed her whole career.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Despite being the child of two people so incredibly beautiful and talented they hardly belong on this planet, even Zoe Krativz has had her fair share of Hollywood woes. In spite of landing fairly varied roles in Mad Max: Fury RoadDope, and Allegiant, the actress says she's had to take deliberate steps to avoid being pigeonholed by casting directors who take one look at her and think, "quirky black girl." In an interview with the Associated Press to promote Allegiant, Kravitz said if she hadn't stood up for herself, she would've ended up playing the same roles over and over.

"People have tried to do that to me over and over again and I’ve been fighting it and fighting it," she said. "I would get auditions and it would be like 'they want you to play the best friend.' And it’s like 'why can’t I audition for the lead?' Then it’ll be like 'OK now you’re the quirky black girl,' or 'now you’re a hippie.' I can play all kinds of people. I don’t have to play myself." 

Nevertheless, Kravitz goes on to say she has faith in the industry primarily because of her role in 2007's The Brave One. The role she played "was written for a blonde white Russian girl. I was like, 'I'll audition for it anyway. It changed [director Neil Jordan’s] mind about how he saw that role." If only Jordan's mindset applied elsewhere in Hollywood—as recently as last summer, Kravitz revealed that when she tried to audition for The Dark Knight Rises, she was told she was too "urban," whatever that means.

Latest in Pop Culture