Stella Damasus Highlights Barriers Preventing Nigerian Actors from Securing Hollywood Roles

Veteran Nollywood actress, Stella Damasus, has opened up about the systemic challenges that make it difficult for Nigerian actors to break into Hollywood, citing entrenched stereotypes and casting biases.

Speaking during a conversation with Arrow House, Damasus said many Hollywood filmmakers still hold outdated views of what Africans should look and sound like, which ultimately excludes many Nigerian actors from consideration for major roles.

“Hollywood has a specific image of what an African is supposed to be,” she said. “They expect an East African accent, and they want actors to be very dark-skinned – like Lupita Nyong’o. That’s what they’re used to, and it’s what they look for when casting African roles.”

According to the actress, this narrow view has led to a mismatch between what Nigerian actors bring to the table and what casting directors expect. She noted that most Nigerians who have managed to secure major Hollywood roles were raised abroad and often come with accents that are more familiar to American or British audiences.

Damasus recounted being told during auditions that she was “not dark enough” to fit their African ideal and not “white enough” to be considered mixed race.

“They said to me, ‘You don’t sound American, you don’t sound British, and you don’t sound African,’” she shared. “And I asked, ‘What do you think Africans sound like?’ because even within Nigeria alone, we have multiple accents and dialects.”

She added that despite Africa being a continent of over 50 countries, Hollywood continues to treat it as a monolith, applying a one-size-fits-all approach to casting African characters.

Damasus’s remarks echo a growing call from African creatives for more nuanced and inclusive representation in global cinema, particularly when portraying African identities.