2011–2017: Early work In 2011, she appeared in her first feature film,
Colombiana, as a younger version of
Zoe Saldaña's character. Her breakthrough came at the age of 12, when she was cast as Rue in the 2012 film
The Hunger Games. The film was a critical and financial success, and Stenberg's performance was praised. She received a number of awards and nominations, including a
Black Reel Award nomination. In 2013, she was cast in the short film
Mercy playing the daughter of
Robin Thicke and
Paula Patton; Thicke directed the film. Stenberg had a
recurring role on season one of
Sleepy Hollow from 2013 to 2014. In 2013, Stenberg began performing on the violin and singing harmonies at Los Angeles venues with singer-songwriter Zander Hawley. In 2014, Stenberg voiced Bia in the animated film
Rio 2, which was a commercial success. She played series regular Halle Foster on the short-lived series
Mr. Robinson, which ran in 2015. In 2016, Stenberg appeared in
Beyoncé: Lemonade by
Beyoncé, In the same year, she signed with
The Society, a modelling agency. Also in 2016, Stenberg had auditioned for the role of
Shuri in the
superhero film Black Panther, however, she walked away because she felt that she was not right for the role. She told
Variety magazine in 2018: "It was so exhilarating to see it fulfilled by people who should have been a part of it and who deserved it and who were right for it. I just wasn't." The role was instead given to actress
Letitia Wright. In 2017, she starred in the romantic drama
Everything, Everything, directed by
Stella Meghie, and co-starring
Nick Robinson. She received praise for her performance, and earned a
Teen Choice Award nomination.
2018–present: Mainstream breakthrough in 2019In 2018, she played the lead role of Starr Carter in the contemporary drama
The Hate U Give, based on the novel
of the same name, which is about the
Black Lives Matter movement. The film was received positively, and Stenberg received critical acclaim for her performance. Peter Travers of
Rolling Stone wrote: "It is impossible to over-praise Stenberg's incandescent performance, a gathering storm that grows in ferocity and feeling with each scene." The film's director,
George Tillman Jr., said that "She has this ability to make you feel like you're seeing the real deal, which comes from a level of dedication to the material that's rare at any age." She earned several accolades for the role, which include winning an
African-American Film Critics Association Award, an
NAACP Image Award, and being nominated for a
Critics' Choice Award and a
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award. In late 2018, Stenberg starred in
Amma Asante's World War II drama
Where Hands Touch. In 2019, Stenberg portrayed
Elizabeth Eckford, a 15-year-old girl who in 1957 was among a group of
nine Black students who were initially prevented from entering a
racially segregated high school in
Little Rock, Arkansas during a segment on the television show
Drunk History (2019). In May 2019, she joined the cast of the
Netflix miniseries
The Eddy, which was released on May 8, 2020. That same month, she signed on to star in the remake of the 1996 thriller film
Fear. In August 2020, she was cast as Alana Beck in
Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of the Broadway musical
Dear Evan Hansen. She also collaborated with the show's composers,
Pasek and Paul, on "The Anonymous Ones", a new song written specifically for her character, whose role was expanded upon from the
stage version. In 2021, Stenberg was cast in the main role for the
Star Wars series
The Acolyte. She later shared via Instagram Stories that the cancellation of the show was "not a huge shock to [her]" due to the "hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudice, hatred and hateful language" it received from
Star Wars fans. In 2022, Stenberg was part of the
ensemble cast of the comedy
horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022).
Bodies Bodies Bodies premiered at
South by Southwest on March 14, 2022. It was theatrically released by
A24 on August 5, 2022, in
select cities, before a nationwide expansion on August 12. In May 2023, Stenberg was announced as part of the voice cast of
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as
Margo Kess / Spider-Byte. == Other ventures ==