Zoë Kravitz is opening up about her experience as a Black woman in Hollywood. As one of the industry’s coolest “it” girls for the past decade, the 34-year-old Batman actress has had many doors opened for her thanks to her enviable family tree as the daughter of actress Lisa Bonet and rockstar Lenny Kravitz. However, she has not come through her journey unscathed. In an interview with Elle, the enigmatic talent spoke about everything from what Hollywood is finally getting right to discriminatory practices regarding how Black women wear their hair.
Kravitz says she makes no allowances for the latter. “[Pre-George Floyd], I was constantly fighting [about my hair] and being asked to change it. I would do a shoot, and this still happens to be honest, where they’ll say, ‘Can you take your braids out? Because we want to do something else’,“ she said about her signature style that takes up to 15 hours to create. “And I always reply, ‘Pretend this is the way it grows out of my head. You don’t ask people that have long blonde hair to change their hair every time they do a shoot.‘ It’s interesting that I‘m often asked to pop them braids out.
Do you know how long this takes? And it’s also the way I wear my hair.” Although Kravitz understands that there is still much ground to be covered for true equality in Hollywood, she sees a path forward as intentional attention has been paid to diversity in recent years. “I think there’s more of a consciousness around making sure that Black women, Black people, get to be a part of stories that go beyond stories about being Black, and then also finding ways to bring that truth into a story,” she said.
When it comes to being authentic, Kravitz says it’s not just a choice for her but essential to feeling good about herself. “I have moments where I stray, or I do something that’s not authentically me. And I immediately feel it, and it feels icky,” she said.
