Photo Credit: RomeoJulietLDN
Francesca Amewudah, born to a Ghanaian father and Nigerian mother in Brighton is a British television and stage actress, musician and composer. She studies music at Oxford university, therefore being able to compose music for short films such as Madea, Minutes and Messenger. She also appeared in two seasons of BestBEducator, a BBC sitcom as Blessing. She was awarded the 2021 Evening Standard Future Theatre Awards for Audio Design. She was also in a theatre production for Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othelle.
Despite her success in music and film, Amewudah Rivers has faced a lot of criticism and racial abuse when the 2024 cast of Romeo and Juliet was revealed. She was casted as Juliet alongside Tom Holland as Romeo. She was faced with criticism, some stating that she is “too masculine” to be playing Juliet. The social media bullying and harassment got so bad, that Jamie Lloyd, the theatre company behind the production condemning the deplorable racial abuse online directed to Francesca.
Amewudah Rivers is a dark skinned black woman and her appearance has been ridiculed, some claiming that no Romeo could possibly kill himself over her. Despite Romeo and Juliet being a fictional film where race does not matter, some social media users argue that it is a piece of “history” and shouldn’t be rewritten. Some called Amewudah Rivers a “diversity hire” despite her experience and talent.
Over 800 black actors signed an open letter, organized by playwright Somalia Nonyé Seaton, in solidarity with Amewudah. “The racist and misogynistic abuse directedtowards such a sweet soul has been too much to bear,” the letter states. This is not the first time a woman of colour has been subjected to racial abuse over a fictional character. When Ambika Mod played the lead of love interest in the Netflixseries, One Day, she was met with racial discrimination. Halle Bailey faced the same when she played Ariel in the little mermaid. South Asian actress Avantika Vandanapu faced backlash when a rumour circulated that she was playing the lead role in tangled, The love action version.
