The entertainment industry has long been criticized for promoting Eurocentric standards, often pressuring performers who don't fit the mold to change fundamental aspects of themselves. This isn't just a historical issue; many Black singers, models, and actors across generations have faced the same pressure from industry professionals. Here's a look at 13 Black celebrities who were pressured to change something about themselves to 'make it' in Hollywood, and how they responded.
Christina Milian initially auditioned as Christina Flores, but didn't start booking roles until she changed her last name to Milian. She told the podcast Richer Lives by SoFi, "It was absolutely a business decision. I am Afro-Latina. I'm Afro-Cuban, which is not really translated all the time, especially in the early phases of my career. You know, you didn't see as many of our faces on TV, especially a Black Latina. And so, a lot of auditions I would go in for, I would try to go in as a Latina, but my skin color didn't really match the last name to what was appealing at the time, so I really couldn't go in for Latina roles. And then, when they was going for an African American role, they're like, 'Flores? Oh, she's Hispanic. She can't even come to this audition.'**
Mahershala Ali initially considered changing his name, but ultimately decided to shorten his first name after learning that his full name wouldn't fit on the Place Beyond the Pines poster. He told Vanity Fair, "I wanted to take on my full name, which was sort of a crazy thing to do considering that we’re in Hollywood... I think if you have any desire to be a leading man or to really carry some of these stories, there's this relationship that has to be cultivated with an audience. People have to be able to say your name. I didn't want a couple of syllables to get in the way of me having the fullest experience as an actor.**
Patti LaBelle was advised to get a nose job to increase her career longevity. She told the Breakfast Club, "I had an issue also with my being a Black woman with a big nose. And a friend of mine got her nose done, and I said, 'Oh, I think I need to try that. Maybe I'll get more gigs.' I tried it. I did. I have a new nose. ... I think it did [change things]. Because it was more pleasant [to] some people.**
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Halle Berry chose her iconic pixie cut after several bad experiences with hairstylists who didn't know how to work with Black hair. She told AP, "That's why I had short hair. [Maintaining] it was easy. I think as people of color, especially in the business, we haven't always had people that know how to manage our hair. Those days are different now [than] when I started.**
Gabourey Sidibe has to advocate for her characters to wear protective styles. She tweeted, "If they don't have the budget to hire a black hairstylist for me, or won't, I just get the director to agree that my character should have box braids or senegalese twist.**
Raven-Symoné revealed that she had 15 people dictating her appearance at the time, and that she felt stifled by the pressure to conform to a certain look. She told Entertainment Tonight, "My likeness, whether you see it in an interview, whether you see it in print, however you see it, at that time, had 15 people dictating what I should and should not look like. If I did whatever I want, I'm not gonna sell, 'cause it doesn't go with the brand. I was branded at such a young age, and then you wonder why all these child stars have these issues. You were not allowing them to grow up as human beings. You were stifling them at the youngest and most important development age of their time, and then you expect them to be normal later? In my head, I have three different brains. At that age, you have to compartmentalize. When you're in the public eye, you have to.**
Sheryl Lee Ralph was advised to always bring her own makeup on set, which is still a necessity for many Black actors. She told the Hollywood Reporter, "I was very young, and it might have been on Falcon Crest. There was one Black makeup artist, and he gave me a complete professional makeup kit, the kind that they use in the union. He said, 'Honey, make sure you take this with you on every job.' I still have that case.**
Nathalie Emmanuel was disappointed when she was told to straighten her hair for a role. She told W magazine, "There was one time when I was on a show where there was another girl who had curly hair. She was a Black woman too, and we looked absolutely nothing alike, but they were like, 'We need you to straighten your hair because people have to be able to tell you two apart.' And that was so disappointing. I think at the time, I justified it by telling myself, 'It's a different look, and you haven't really done that before. It might be fun to just have this other look, and this is just part of the character.' But in hindsight, my hair was absolutely destroyed from straightening it every day for that job.**
Jason Derulo changed his last name professionally to Desrouleaux, so it wouldn't be misspelled or mispronounced. He told Spin, "I decided to change it professionally so that it wouldn't be misspelled or mispronounced.**
K. Michelle got illegal silicone butt injections, thinking it would help her career. She told Essence, "I had just got a new record deal, and I felt like the bigger the butt, the bigger the career. I already had a big butt. It was just ridiculous. She later had to have four surgeries and two blood transfusions to remove them.**
Angëër Amol was asked to cut her hair when she signed with her modeling agency. She told Essence, "When I first came into the industry, I had locs. When I signed to my agency, they told me I needed to cut my hair. I wasn't comfortable with it — it took me five years to grow out my locs. ... When I told my agents I was going to cut my hair, they were fine with it because they'd wanted me to anyway. But they didn't expect me to cut it as short as I did. I shaved it all the way down — and I didn't book a single job for over a year and a half.**
Jessica Dime felt pressured to get cosmetic work, including butt filler, liposuction, breast augmentation, and lip filler, to have a successful career. She told Botched Presents: Plastic Surgery Rewind, "I feel like getting into the industry definitely played a part in me wanting to look the way I look. But definitely, stuff pressures you into doing it, when you feel like, 'Look, I gotta do this so I can be successful without the help of a man.'**
