16 Actors Who Dared to Play a Slave
These stars channeled painful history for roles.
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Nate Parker in The Birth of a Nation (2016) - Slavery is one of the most horrific eras in American history and has frequently been explored in cinema, from the groundbreaking mini-series Roots to The Birth of a Nation, which premieres, tomorrow. But actors channeling slavery is often controversial and a risky career move.Our list of actors who channeled the painful past to play slaves starts with Nate Parker. The actor brings to life the story of Nat Turner, whom he plays in The Birth of a Nation, an enslaved man who leads an iconic slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu)
Photo By (Photo: Jahi Chikwendiu. A ? 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation)
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Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave (2013) - Lupita Nyong'o's performance in 12 Years a Slave happened to be her first appearance in a feature film after graduating from the Yale School of Drama. She was so good as Patsey in the drama that she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2013.(Regency Enterprises River Road Entertainment Plan B Entertainment New Regency Film4 Productions)
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Aunjanue Ellis in The Book of Negroes (2015) - Aunjanue Ellis starred as the lead in the miniseries The Book of Negroes based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Lawrence Hill. She received rave reviews for her performance as Aminata Diallo.(Photo: Joe Alblas, Conquering Lion Pictures, Out of Africa Pictures)
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Gabrielle Union in The Birth of a Nation (2016) - Gabrielle Union stars as the slave Esther in the film The Birth of a Nation, which hits theatres tomorrow. This is the first time the actress has portrayed a slave in a film of any kind on the big or small screen.(Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu)
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Djimon Hounsou in Amistad (1997) - Djimon Hounsou has been a staple in Hollywood for some time, but he gained major notoriety for his role as Joseph Cinqué in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad where he notoriously played a slave in shackles. He was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1998 for his performance and went on to win an NAACP.
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T.I. in Roots (2016) - The rapper was a part of an ensemble cast in the 2016 miniseries Roots, playing the role of Cyrus. Though T.I. has acted in the past, this was possibly the most dramatic role he has ever playing throughout his acting career.
Photo By (Photo: History/A&E)
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Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (2013) - Chiwetel Ejiofor's performance in this film got many talking. The British actor received universal praise for his portrayal of Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped and put into slavery for over a decade, in Steve McQueen's drama. He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her performance.(Photo: Courtesy Regency Enterprises)
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LeVar Burton in Roots (1977) - The audition to play Kunta Kinte in this groundbreaking television series was Burton's first. He not only nailed the part, he earned an Emmy nomination for it. "[Roots] expanded the consciousness of people," Burton said years later of the seminal series. "Blacks and whites began to see each other as human beings, not as stereotypes."(Photo: Courtesy PBS)
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Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained (2012) - When Quentin Tarantino called his frequent collaborator Jackson to play the scene-stealing part of evil "house n****r" Stephen in his controversial "slave spaghetti western," the veteran actor agreed immediately. "'You wrote this 15 years too late for me to be Django, but now you really want me to be the most hated Negro in cinematic history?’" Jackson recalled telling Tarantino. Thankfully, audiences loved to hate Jackson's character in the Oscar-winning film.(Photo: Courtesy The Weinstein Company)
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Kerry Washington in Django Unchained (2012) - As the object of Django's determined rescue mission, Washington's role was criticized by feminists as passive. But the actress sees her character Broomhilda, a slave waiting to be rescued by her man, differently. "I really saw the value of having a story that empowers the African American man to do something chivalrous for the African American woman," she explained. "It's something we've never been allowed to dream about."(Photo: Matt Dames/Sony via Getty Images)
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Lisa Gay Hamilton in Beloved (1998) - The Obie-winning actress played a young Oprah Winfrey as Sethe, a former slave battling demons and post-Civil War Cincinnati. The film was nominated for six NAACP Image Awards.(Photo: Courtesy Touchstone Pictures)
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Halle Berry in Queen (1993) - Berry played the title role in Alex Haley's (Roots) mini-seriesnQueen, which was based on Haley's paternal grandmother, a biracial slave who struggled through life trapped between two cultures. The soon-to-be Oscar winner was widely criticized for the role but the film earned nine Emmy nods — Berry was not nominated. (Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros)
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Denzel Washington in Glory (1989) - After getting his break on the television drama St. Elsewhere, Denzel Washington took the big screen by storm with his Academy Award-winning performance in Glory. Washington played Private Silas Trip of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry — the first all-Black infantry in the U.S. military — during the Civil War.(Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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Oyafunmike Ogunlano in Sankofa (1993) - In this rare film from Burkina Faso that shows the slave trade from the African perspective, Ogunlano plays a dual role of an American model visiting Africa and her young slave ancestor who was taken from her homeland and enslaved in America. The film was nominated for a prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.(Photo: Courtesy Channel Four Films)
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S. Epatha Merkerson in Lincoln (2012) - The veteran actress played Lydia Hamilton Smith, a housekeeper with a special relationship to Tommy Lee Jones' character, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, in this Oscar-winning historical epic.(Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)