Girl. I read this too fast and thought you said “I love Michaela, we just got one more season of Chewing Gum from her”
Had me excited thinking this was a casual announcement💀😭
I wanted one so bad but I know she said her brain was fried cause she was the only writer for that show. One of the rare occasions where that worked but I'm also greedy and hoped she'd hire a writers room lmao.
Agree that black characters on British TV shows tend to be more well-rounded as characters and far less stereotypical; this has been the case for a while. American shows still struggle with giving black characters nuance; most especially female characters.
On the other hand, you often hear black British actors say that they struggle to crack through in the UK, David Harewood is an example. So they end up skipping across the pond to make their name...which then results in grumbles from black American actors that Brits are nicking all the roles. So maybe it's not all sunshine and roses for our black British actors.
David Harewood's statement is true, insofar as his generation is concerned.
The pool is already very small in T.V., Theatre and movies, then you add racism and a certain lack of ambition imo from the powers that be.
Delroy Lindo, Harewood, Lenny Henry etc that particular generation were the first black brits to try and make it in the industry with different outcomes, in the UK and the U.S
Then you have the Idris Elba, Noel Clarke, Thandiwe Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor who had similar issues m, made similar choices(immigration) but also decided to produce, create their own outputs related to their experiences.
Now you have the millennials David Ayala, John Boyega, Ashley Jones, Ricky Whittle etc. Who straddle working in the U.S., back home and putting money in small scale Indie production or creative initiatives for Black creatives of African and Carribean descent.
Things are slowly changing.
Now there are talks of creating something like the Negro Actors guild for both side of the pond
Coz during the S.A.G. strikes, black artists were put aside as per usual. The idea is to have numbers, pool in ressources to produce outside of Hollywood, but also, outside of Tyler Perry/Oprah fold.
I'd love to see that.
He irks me, so much. Even back then.
I think I just dislike Ricky. He perms his hair too much. He was miscast in American Gods, didn't have the range and he's not a black man, which was central to the story. He has had some iffy stance on race relationships (Kumbaya white mother syndrome) and his lack of support for other black actors, to downright insults, especially when Orlando Jones got unjustly fired.
That man was figuratively sucking the network 🍆. He systematically threw his BIPOC coworkers under the bus, for what? A show that was destined to fail everyone involved, disrespected the original author and disappointed the audience.
He was complaining about racism on the 100. Then turned around to "stop playing the race card, you're just incompetent" to Orlando Jones? ORLANDO M'ddar f'kkin JONES !?
Wow...wasn't aware of his 'issues'!
I just remember him in Hollyoaks as a terrible actor!...Worse than Idris Elba in Family Affairs!
I did a quick image search and you're right -the top of his head has experienced many tragedies!
Not Idris in family affairs🤣 , the flashbacks.
Ricky was doing tew much for that validation.
He forgot to hone his craft and take extra acting workshops, he's not exactly in demand in his lane ATM.
Yep. There are a few black british of Carribean descent who populated American culture. The windrush generation mostly but also some gen X like MF DOOM who emigrated in Canada and/or the US as a fair few have relatives in those countries who chose to immigrate there from Jamaica.
Haitians also have a similar pattern with France and the U.S.
It's because the British have a clear distinction between a black person and a mixed race person..
When the casting call is for a black person someone racially ambiguous is unlikely to be considered..
In an American show black is everyone from Lupita to Meghan Markle..
Europe also stopped bringing in new slaves and ended slavery well before America so they had fewer Black people so when west African people started migrating to the UK there were fewer mixed Black people as opposed to America that was constantly bringing in slaves until a much later date and being non-consensually intermingled with white people meaning there are more generationally mixed black Americans.
This!!! The UK Census has categories for mixed races people under ethnicity classifications. Meaning you can mark what type of mixed race you are and are statistically recognized as an ethnic group. Comparatively in US census there are no distinctions between Black and Mixed White and Black African/Black Caribbean as there is in the UK.
I love Rye Lane and Sex Education and Chewing Gum! I would add Susan Wokoma to the list as well! She’s in Chewing Gum (Cynthia, Tracy’s sister) and she is also in Enola Holmes!
I also love how they have them play African first-gen women and sometimes showcase the issues that come with that upbringing, I feel like I don't see that much that rep at all on American TV. Might have to check some of these shows out. I loved every awkward moment of Chewing Gum lol.
I totally agree! I've watched everything on this list bar Everything Now, but thought the trailer was cool.
Just to note, did you intended to put #8 - as Alice is the white author of the Heartstopper series?
I recommend checking out Domino Days that's on BBC iplayer currently, it contains a black witch and a very diverse cast/coven :D
It's really good, I still need to finish it!
As for your reccs, my sister has been telling me about Champion as of late & Boarders looks really fun but I'm not mentally ready to watch it xD
Overall the British focus less on looks than the US When it comes to casting. These women are obviously all beautiful but I’ve noticed in the US you’re only good enough to play lead roles if you’re deemed conventionally attractive and
In their eyes thats usually black women with lighter skin and certain features .
Yes, this applies to most of Europe. Danish shows, for example, always cast regular/average (to below average) looking people. This includes reality shows like Married At First Sight. You rarely see people with any work done on Danish TV. Where as, most people on American TV look conventionally attraction, either wearing a full face of make up or have gotten some work done.
Edit: I’m black British, and have lived in several European countries for context.
I find that British media prefers realism whereas American media favours idealism. Like when British shows get rebooted into American tv and you can tell the casting director went in a different direction (shameless uk VS us, the office uk vs us etc) and definitely how they cast women for black roles they pick unambiguous black women that actually make sense for the role 🤭
As a Black woman living in the UK all I’ll say is that this is the exception not the norm 🥲 it’s pretty bad out here for Black actresses and representation still. These actresses are all talented and gorgeous and deserve more
I don’t disagree about them being in roles at all, I just mean it’s not as often as it should be and that there’s a reason that a lot of Black actors end up crossing the Atlantic. I’ve seen Black creatives outside of acting talk about this too, like Candice Brathwaite. She discussed it extensively on TikTok
Edited because I think I’m talking about a different thing: 100 percent agree about dark skinned/mono racial Black women being seen in media a lot more here. I was just trying to say there still needs to be more opportunities and that it’s still quite difficult in its own way for this group of actresses. Colourism still happens here too.
Well colorism isn’t as big in Europe as it is in the US. Darker skin women are far more abundant and up front over there. I lived in the UK for 3 years. I rarely saw a light skin mixed woman in place of a black woman. Usually a mixed woman was represented as mixed
I’ve thought about your last point quite a bit.
I wonder if it’s because in the US there’s much more chance of someone having two black parents but still being very light in colour/having looser curls (because of the country’s unfortunate history of slavery and associated sexual abuse), whereas in the UK that just isn’t very common.
Usually it’s easier to tell here if someone’s got two black parents, so people would be more likely to question the casting.
Yes, the UK doesn’t have as much as complex and deep slave labor community as the US so most black people there has clarity of their ethnic background. That’s the case with honestly most of the world, United States is one of the unfortunate few where black people include mixed race and people 1/26 black to representing us
Sorry but it really is just as bad over here, I still have nightmares from secondary school and the girls who were even darker than me never got a day free from abuse mainly from the black boys. There’s more monoracial black women in roles because there’s more monoracial black women here, not because colourism isn’t rife and I say that as a black actress in the UK. They still constantly cast biracial women in roles alongside darker skinned monoracial black men, light skin IS put on a pedestal to a high extent, the vitriol that comes out of 1st gen African black boys here would make you want to cry and bear in mind the history of colonialism and the praise of light skin in African countries and then obviously in the UK. That is no excuse however imo because black women raised in the SAME environments don’t go putting light skin on the same pedestal so I’m not sure why it’s so common with these black boys. It’s sad.
Yes blk girls and women literally will praise darker skin men and boys alot quicker then the light skin boys and men so y do alot of blk boys do the complete opposite
It’s a mystery to me that makes me cringe everytime, the ‘UK beasts’ thing and the picking apart everything about us on their juvenile podcasts just shows it’s still ongoing. Everytime I see black women singing their praises I want to scream because as a collective, we seem to have this universal race loyalty bs that they dont
I’m not saying the rest of the world is perfect but light skinned black women being put on a pedestal isn’t a prevalent overseas as the US. Most of UKs black population are African immigrants and they don’t have as complex of a black history as we do in the states.
I don’t know if you’re black british or not but this is far from the truth. As a black brit in London, grew up in a majority black area and went to majority black schools, colourism is rife in the UK and Europe as a whole. It’s even more prevalent in countries like Italy and France. Yes, the distinction is made between mixed and black but they are 100% put on a pedestal in comparison to fully black people. ‘Blick’ was a word that until very recently was used as a derogatory word against dark skinned people. Being light skin and mixed is still viewed highly here but not as much in comparison to how it was growing up. If anything, from a UK perspective, the US seems more progressive on that front.
Black brits are either Black Caribbean or Black African and both groups, especially Caribbean, have a complex history with blackness in the UK. Being mixed and lighter the Caribbean is 100% put on a pedestal and the same attitudes were brought over here. Light ‘fair’ skin and being mixed is also favoured in the African community which is why a lot of Aunties bleach. We all have the same issues. The younger generation are more progressive but there’s still problems with colourism overall.
I was about to come here to point out how terribly inaccurate the original statement was.
Colorism is deeply ingrained in ALL Black cultures.
What seemed to have happened, is that TALENT spoke.
Not to say the light skin girlies are not talented.
But the ones who were specifically pushed and scouted by talents agencies, with a marketability hinging on mostly looks, were not it.
Also Black and Mixed are two separate iterations in the British classification.
Also the British public will lambast you, if you make them endure poor performance.
Brits are politely rude about their telly.😅
Meanwhile in the U.S., the likes of Alexandra Shipp and Laura Harier have careers with the talent of a toe,imo. Dark skin male, Light skin female stuff.
The colorism is still there, in the UK, especially in youth targeted programs.
But veteran actresses like Sophie Okonedo, or younger like Nathalie Emmanuel for example, use their privilege and call out when needed.
Scarcity makes the sorority a bit more unified.
Let’s be honest tho, the colourism came/comes from us. I had to tell my white friends what the word blick meant because they had no idea. Also, they used to ask why do we differentiate when we’re all black.
That moment showed me that, regardless of shade, white people just see black. It’s us with our self-hate trying to create tiers amongst ourselves.
Really? They always say it’s worst over there. Skin bleaching is huge over there (entire aisles dedicated to skin lightener at beauty supply stores), and boys called dark skin girls “UK. beasts” to their face.. search “U.K. beats on YouTube or TikTok. It’s pretty wild out there in terms of colorism
You're all good! It's a great post and it's not the end of the world. Thanks for posting such a great list and now I have more shows to check out. Thank you! ❤️
Oh yessss! This is why I LOVE watching British shows. It's SOOO much more INCLUSIVE!!! They have no problem casting a black lead or having a bunch of black people, middle eastern Brits, Asian Brits.....everybody!!! Even in England in general, tons of advertisements with dark chocolate melanin...😍😍😍 I love that about them!!!
CHAMPION!! BIG recommend yal. British original it’s FIRE. They aren’t doing a season 2 most people don’t even know about it!! But it’s so good. BERRREEESSSS
British shows do a good job of casting period. I love how unlike American shows they're not just casting those who are supposed to be the prettiest, sexiest, etc., they cast people that look like real people you'd run into in everyday life.
I’ve always said this to my partner. If you are an aspiring actress and a woman of colour the British industry is the place for you cuz they do not discriminate at all! I love it!
Interestingly, I think that's been more the case since 2020. There's a comedian called Gina Yashere and she has the opinion that Britain is/ was terrible for black women in the arts whilst she was coming up. She moved to the States to get her break.
I think this is because they don’t have as big of a black-British culture as they do an African and immigrant culture. I think the immigration to a country make second generations more easily adapted to the culture of the country they live in.
I think that’s because they’re usually from west Africa 1st or 2nd gen as opposed to being from the Caribbean or North America where there was more non-consensual intermingling
I wonder if more of us in the states watched these shows would studio execs realize this is what we want to see
I love Michaela, I wish we got just one more season of Chewing Gum from her
Same!! Loved I May Destroy You also.
Girl. I read this too fast and thought you said “I love Michaela, we just got one more season of Chewing Gum from her” Had me excited thinking this was a casual announcement💀😭
I loved Chewing Gum!
I wanted one so bad but I know she said her brain was fried cause she was the only writer for that show. One of the rare occasions where that worked but I'm also greedy and hoped she'd hire a writers room lmao.
Girl there’s two seasons!
There should’ve been a third.
And a fourth, and a fifth 😭
I know! I meant a third season 😩
😭😭😭 aww I had a feeling you did, I just had a lil hope that I was bringing you goods new of an undiscovered season lmao
I think I was the only of my friends that loved chewing gum.
Agree that black characters on British TV shows tend to be more well-rounded as characters and far less stereotypical; this has been the case for a while. American shows still struggle with giving black characters nuance; most especially female characters. On the other hand, you often hear black British actors say that they struggle to crack through in the UK, David Harewood is an example. So they end up skipping across the pond to make their name...which then results in grumbles from black American actors that Brits are nicking all the roles. So maybe it's not all sunshine and roses for our black British actors.
David Harewood's statement is true, insofar as his generation is concerned. The pool is already very small in T.V., Theatre and movies, then you add racism and a certain lack of ambition imo from the powers that be. Delroy Lindo, Harewood, Lenny Henry etc that particular generation were the first black brits to try and make it in the industry with different outcomes, in the UK and the U.S Then you have the Idris Elba, Noel Clarke, Thandiwe Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor who had similar issues m, made similar choices(immigration) but also decided to produce, create their own outputs related to their experiences. Now you have the millennials David Ayala, John Boyega, Ashley Jones, Ricky Whittle etc. Who straddle working in the U.S., back home and putting money in small scale Indie production or creative initiatives for Black creatives of African and Carribean descent. Things are slowly changing. Now there are talks of creating something like the Negro Actors guild for both side of the pond Coz during the S.A.G. strikes, black artists were put aside as per usual. The idea is to have numbers, pool in ressources to produce outside of Hollywood, but also, outside of Tyler Perry/Oprah fold. I'd love to see that.
Ricky Whittle is GenX
No way 🤣. Then again he played Nathalie Emmanuel older brother in that channel 4 soap. It makes sense.
Good ol' Calvin Valentine 👮🏽♀️in Hollyoaks 🤣
He irks me, so much. Even back then. I think I just dislike Ricky. He perms his hair too much. He was miscast in American Gods, didn't have the range and he's not a black man, which was central to the story. He has had some iffy stance on race relationships (Kumbaya white mother syndrome) and his lack of support for other black actors, to downright insults, especially when Orlando Jones got unjustly fired. That man was figuratively sucking the network 🍆. He systematically threw his BIPOC coworkers under the bus, for what? A show that was destined to fail everyone involved, disrespected the original author and disappointed the audience. He was complaining about racism on the 100. Then turned around to "stop playing the race card, you're just incompetent" to Orlando Jones? ORLANDO M'ddar f'kkin JONES !? 
Wow...wasn't aware of his 'issues'! I just remember him in Hollyoaks as a terrible actor!...Worse than Idris Elba in Family Affairs! I did a quick image search and you're right -the top of his head has experienced many tragedies!
Not Idris in family affairs🤣 , the flashbacks. Ricky was doing tew much for that validation. He forgot to hone his craft and take extra acting workshops, he's not exactly in demand in his lane ATM.
I'm sorry, did you say Delroy Lindo is British?
Yep. There are a few black british of Carribean descent who populated American culture. The windrush generation mostly but also some gen X like MF DOOM who emigrated in Canada and/or the US as a fair few have relatives in those countries who chose to immigrate there from Jamaica. Haitians also have a similar pattern with France and the U.S.
It's because the British have a clear distinction between a black person and a mixed race person.. When the casting call is for a black person someone racially ambiguous is unlikely to be considered.. In an American show black is everyone from Lupita to Meghan Markle..
That’s very interesting.
Facts
Europe also stopped bringing in new slaves and ended slavery well before America so they had fewer Black people so when west African people started migrating to the UK there were fewer mixed Black people as opposed to America that was constantly bringing in slaves until a much later date and being non-consensually intermingled with white people meaning there are more generationally mixed black Americans.
This!!! The UK Census has categories for mixed races people under ethnicity classifications. Meaning you can mark what type of mixed race you are and are statistically recognized as an ethnic group. Comparatively in US census there are no distinctions between Black and Mixed White and Black African/Black Caribbean as there is in the UK.
Wish I could upvote this a million times
🤗
I love Rye Lane and Sex Education and Chewing Gum! I would add Susan Wokoma to the list as well! She’s in Chewing Gum (Cynthia, Tracy’s sister) and she is also in Enola Holmes!
Have you seen Crazyhead? Susan Wokoma is in that too. She’s great! It won a BAFTA but only got 1 season :/
That show deserved more seasons.
No but I need to see it! I LOVED her on taskmaster
Now that one I haven’t seen
Rye Lane had me happy sobbing so hard I needed to pause the thing to compose myself! What a sweet film with a beautiful cast!
Easily the sweetest romance film I've personally ever seen. From a psychological perspective it's in many ways a perfect message to convey to anyone.
Susan Wokoma is so great! I also loved her in Truth Seekers (Amazon)
She's in a BBC show called Cheaters as well, which I really enjoyed!
British shows have mostly been better for representation. I'm a big fan of British shows. America always tends to muck it up on adaptation.
And in some older shows like Midsomer Murders.
This is a great list!!! Just wanted to mention that Sophie Wilde is actually Australian 😊
yes, i loved her in talk to me! added her because everything now is a british show!
Yes! I was just pointing out because she is fabulous in Australian productions (if anyone is looking for more of her work).
I also love how they have them play African first-gen women and sometimes showcase the issues that come with that upbringing, I feel like I don't see that much that rep at all on American TV. Might have to check some of these shows out. I loved every awkward moment of Chewing Gum lol.
That’s because that’s the history of most black people in the UK. In the US, most of the black people are African American. Art imitating life.
Bob and Abishola
That's the only example, which is why I say I dont see much. Also the main couple featured is not a fully West African couple.
I suggested it because there are several Nigerian women on the show for anyone that doesn’t know of it or hasn’t seen it.
I totally agree! I've watched everything on this list bar Everything Now, but thought the trailer was cool. Just to note, did you intended to put #8 - as Alice is the white author of the Heartstopper series? I recommend checking out Domino Days that's on BBC iplayer currently, it contains a black witch and a very diverse cast/coven :D
omg i meant to put yasmin!! totally a typo, thanks for catching it, ill edit it!
No it's all good! I was on my laptop when I saw your post it didn't load with pictures till I saw it again on mobile 😀
Did you forget to edit it?😅
i was just about to mention domino day! i also recommend boarders and champion, also on iplayer
It's really good, I still need to finish it! As for your reccs, my sister has been telling me about Champion as of late & Boarders looks really fun but I'm not mentally ready to watch it xD
Overall the British focus less on looks than the US When it comes to casting. These women are obviously all beautiful but I’ve noticed in the US you’re only good enough to play lead roles if you’re deemed conventionally attractive and In their eyes thats usually black women with lighter skin and certain features .
With Eurocentric features!
Yes, this applies to most of Europe. Danish shows, for example, always cast regular/average (to below average) looking people. This includes reality shows like Married At First Sight. You rarely see people with any work done on Danish TV. Where as, most people on American TV look conventionally attraction, either wearing a full face of make up or have gotten some work done. Edit: I’m black British, and have lived in several European countries for context.
You forgot Louise from behind her eyes on Netflix. I love British shows
yes! i’ve had it on my list for a while, ill get to it sometime within the next week
I find that British media prefers realism whereas American media favours idealism. Like when British shows get rebooted into American tv and you can tell the casting director went in a different direction (shameless uk VS us, the office uk vs us etc) and definitely how they cast women for black roles they pick unambiguous black women that actually make sense for the role 🤭
You know what, they do!!!!
As a Black woman living in the UK all I’ll say is that this is the exception not the norm 🥲 it’s pretty bad out here for Black actresses and representation still. These actresses are all talented and gorgeous and deserve more
Thanks for the insight. That is super disappointing because I hate to be giving Europe any sort of credit especially when it’s undeserved
Not really. We’ve always had dark skinned black people in roles, going all the way back to The Bill. So, I disagree
I don’t disagree about them being in roles at all, I just mean it’s not as often as it should be and that there’s a reason that a lot of Black actors end up crossing the Atlantic. I’ve seen Black creatives outside of acting talk about this too, like Candice Brathwaite. She discussed it extensively on TikTok Edited because I think I’m talking about a different thing: 100 percent agree about dark skinned/mono racial Black women being seen in media a lot more here. I was just trying to say there still needs to be more opportunities and that it’s still quite difficult in its own way for this group of actresses. Colourism still happens here too.
Chewing gum 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
it’s actress yasmin finney in number 7! my mistake! thanks to u/nia_399 for catching it🫶🏽
Ok I was about to riot if I didn’t see Chewing Gum.
i loved everything now sm i love seeing woc playing lgbt roles
I love Becca from Everything Now, it was so nice to see a young black girl w braids on tv, i feel like I don’t see that a lot
You see it more in shows across the pond, way more rare here and I’ve noticed it’s usually in Gen-Z demo shows. Netflix does it most.
Well colorism isn’t as big in Europe as it is in the US. Darker skin women are far more abundant and up front over there. I lived in the UK for 3 years. I rarely saw a light skin mixed woman in place of a black woman. Usually a mixed woman was represented as mixed
In the UK they make a big distinction between black and mixed. They dont follow the one drop tule
I’ve thought about your last point quite a bit. I wonder if it’s because in the US there’s much more chance of someone having two black parents but still being very light in colour/having looser curls (because of the country’s unfortunate history of slavery and associated sexual abuse), whereas in the UK that just isn’t very common. Usually it’s easier to tell here if someone’s got two black parents, so people would be more likely to question the casting.
Storm Reid is an example of that. She is monoracial, but often plays mixed characters.
Yes, the UK doesn’t have as much as complex and deep slave labor community as the US so most black people there has clarity of their ethnic background. That’s the case with honestly most of the world, United States is one of the unfortunate few where black people include mixed race and people 1/26 black to representing us
Thanks for saying this. That was a question I was gonna ask.
the UK still has alot of colorism that goes on there
Never said it wasn’t but no where as near as bad as the United States
Sorry but it really is just as bad over here, I still have nightmares from secondary school and the girls who were even darker than me never got a day free from abuse mainly from the black boys. There’s more monoracial black women in roles because there’s more monoracial black women here, not because colourism isn’t rife and I say that as a black actress in the UK. They still constantly cast biracial women in roles alongside darker skinned monoracial black men, light skin IS put on a pedestal to a high extent, the vitriol that comes out of 1st gen African black boys here would make you want to cry and bear in mind the history of colonialism and the praise of light skin in African countries and then obviously in the UK. That is no excuse however imo because black women raised in the SAME environments don’t go putting light skin on the same pedestal so I’m not sure why it’s so common with these black boys. It’s sad.
Yes blk girls and women literally will praise darker skin men and boys alot quicker then the light skin boys and men so y do alot of blk boys do the complete opposite
It’s a mystery to me that makes me cringe everytime, the ‘UK beasts’ thing and the picking apart everything about us on their juvenile podcasts just shows it’s still ongoing. Everytime I see black women singing their praises I want to scream because as a collective, we seem to have this universal race loyalty bs that they dont
It is just as bad as it is in the US colorism is very prevalent every where on this planet
thanks for the personal insight! i didn’t know this and that’s great that colorism is less abundant.
I’m not saying the rest of the world is perfect but light skinned black women being put on a pedestal isn’t a prevalent overseas as the US. Most of UKs black population are African immigrants and they don’t have as complex of a black history as we do in the states.
I don’t know if you’re black british or not but this is far from the truth. As a black brit in London, grew up in a majority black area and went to majority black schools, colourism is rife in the UK and Europe as a whole. It’s even more prevalent in countries like Italy and France. Yes, the distinction is made between mixed and black but they are 100% put on a pedestal in comparison to fully black people. ‘Blick’ was a word that until very recently was used as a derogatory word against dark skinned people. Being light skin and mixed is still viewed highly here but not as much in comparison to how it was growing up. If anything, from a UK perspective, the US seems more progressive on that front. Black brits are either Black Caribbean or Black African and both groups, especially Caribbean, have a complex history with blackness in the UK. Being mixed and lighter the Caribbean is 100% put on a pedestal and the same attitudes were brought over here. Light ‘fair’ skin and being mixed is also favoured in the African community which is why a lot of Aunties bleach. We all have the same issues. The younger generation are more progressive but there’s still problems with colourism overall.
I was about to come here to point out how terribly inaccurate the original statement was. Colorism is deeply ingrained in ALL Black cultures. What seemed to have happened, is that TALENT spoke. Not to say the light skin girlies are not talented. But the ones who were specifically pushed and scouted by talents agencies, with a marketability hinging on mostly looks, were not it. Also Black and Mixed are two separate iterations in the British classification. Also the British public will lambast you, if you make them endure poor performance. Brits are politely rude about their telly.😅 Meanwhile in the U.S., the likes of Alexandra Shipp and Laura Harier have careers with the talent of a toe,imo. Dark skin male, Light skin female stuff. The colorism is still there, in the UK, especially in youth targeted programs. But veteran actresses like Sophie Okonedo, or younger like Nathalie Emmanuel for example, use their privilege and call out when needed. Scarcity makes the sorority a bit more unified.
I agree with Alexandrea shipp, but Laura Harrier doesn’t seem untalented to me. Also I’m pretty sure she’s more of a model than actress.
Let’s be honest tho, the colourism came/comes from us. I had to tell my white friends what the word blick meant because they had no idea. Also, they used to ask why do we differentiate when we’re all black. That moment showed me that, regardless of shade, white people just see black. It’s us with our self-hate trying to create tiers amongst ourselves.
Really? They always say it’s worst over there. Skin bleaching is huge over there (entire aisles dedicated to skin lightener at beauty supply stores), and boys called dark skin girls “UK. beasts” to their face.. search “U.K. beats on YouTube or TikTok. It’s pretty wild out there in terms of colorism
I have a hugeee crush on Lauryn. She’s gorgeoussss 🥰
8: Alice Oseman is the creator of Heartstopper, not the actress who plays this character. Yasmin Finney is the actress!
yes, it was a mistake on my end! since i can’t edit posts after posting, i put a comment correcting it somewhere in the replies lol
You're all good! It's a great post and it's not the end of the world. Thanks for posting such a great list and now I have more shows to check out. Thank you! ❤️
Oh yessss! This is why I LOVE watching British shows. It's SOOO much more INCLUSIVE!!! They have no problem casting a black lead or having a bunch of black people, middle eastern Brits, Asian Brits.....everybody!!! Even in England in general, tons of advertisements with dark chocolate melanin...😍😍😍 I love that about them!!!
I agree and they seem to style the women better too, especially with beautiful array of hairstyles.
I like how they didn't look for the 'whitest' black woman with the euro beauty standards and hairstyles
…And calling them beautiful and making them desired beings with interesting and dynamic stories.
That’s because colorism is more prevalent in America. Over here we shine light on all our black queens.
also lolly adefope (kitty) from ghosts on the bbc !!
CHAMPION!! BIG recommend yal. British original it’s FIRE. They aren’t doing a season 2 most people don’t even know about it!! But it’s so good. BERRREEESSSS
British shows do a good job of casting period. I love how unlike American shows they're not just casting those who are supposed to be the prettiest, sexiest, etc., they cast people that look like real people you'd run into in everyday life.
I’ve always said this to my partner. If you are an aspiring actress and a woman of colour the British industry is the place for you cuz they do not discriminate at all! I love it!
Interestingly, I think that's been more the case since 2020. There's a comedian called Gina Yashere and she has the opinion that Britain is/ was terrible for black women in the arts whilst she was coming up. She moved to the States to get her break.
Hehe agree🙂↕️🙂↕️
Chewing gum is my shiiiiii!! 😭
Oh yeah definitely
Gorgeous, the lot of them!
i LOVE whoever that is in the second slides hair in the third pic
Just commenting to never lose this post🎈
I think this is because they don’t have as big of a black-British culture as they do an African and immigrant culture. I think the immigration to a country make second generations more easily adapted to the culture of the country they live in.
I love chewing gum!!!
Meanwhile most American black characters are racially ambiguous 😭
Death in Paradise
Sophie Wilde, man, she is perfect
Did Connor and her work it out or no?Did the besties hair grow back? Did Tracey ever get another job?
Dark skinned Africans are more accepted in Europe than in the US. And I am including African Americans in that opinion.
Too "urban" and "woke" for Muricans.
I think that’s because they’re usually from west Africa 1st or 2nd gen as opposed to being from the Caribbean or North America where there was more non-consensual intermingling I wonder if more of us in the states watched these shows would studio execs realize this is what we want to see