Growing up, the most difficult thing most of us have had to deal with is wanting a toy we can’t have or disliking a type of food, or a subject at school. At least, for the most part that should be what a child has to deal with growing up. Unfortunately not all kids deal with just these problems in their childhood. Some children have to deal with the confusion of how they look, because of something someone says, or because of a checklist on a box they have to fill out. In recent times, we have seen discussion over discrimantion of race and culture take a turn, people are more accepting of others, but that doesnt mean these problems don’t still exist. Recently, the black lives matter movement has swept social media, the internet, and the streets! Identifying the struggles people of colour are facing. Many celebrities have spoken out about their feelings, many talking about their own experiences, growing up African-American and/or Biracial. Struggles of self-identity, fitting in, and feeling isolated, or having their career be tested because of where they are from. Here is a list of 40 Celebrities you may not have known were biracial, sharing their own experiences and struggles.
1. Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey’s father was of African-Venezuelan descent, and her mother was of Irish descent. From childhood she has struggled with her identity as a biracial woman, in a 2020 interview with Vulture, she speaks out about how if ever she felt ashamed or alienated it was ‘at the hands of white people.’
The struggle continued throughout her career, as her heritage was continuously misidentified. Carey continued to fight her identity trying to identify and fit in with different types of music genres. While opening up about her childhood Carry responded, “How was I supposed to fit in? I was, like, the only one that’s this weird mutant, mutt.”
2. Zendaya
Zendaya grew up with a father who is African-American, and her mother who has German and Scottish ancestry. In a memorable moment at the 2018 Beautycon Festival, Zendaya calls out the beauty and entertainment industry for their standards regarding women of color.
“As a light-skinned black woman it’s important that I’m using my privilege, my platform, to show you how much beauty there is in the African-American community,” she said. This was not the first time Zendaya has spoken out about colourism in the industry. In 2016 she expressed to Cosmopolitan how important it was for her to understand her privilege as a ‘light-skinned black woman.”
3. Halle Berry
Halle Berry is of African-American, Irish, German, and Dutch descent. The actress made history when she became the first Black woman to ever win “Best Actress” at the Academy Awards. Although her success is commendable, being of African-American descent was something she struggled with growing up.
“Now, all of a sudden we were in an all-white school with all-white kids, I got bullied a little bit… because of the color of my skin and at that time we were Oreos,” she expressed in an interview with People Entertainment.
4. Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph is of African-American and Jewish descent. Best known for her impersonations, and starring in an array of TV series and films, including her comedic role in the movie Bridesmaids. In an interview with the New York Times Magazine, Rudolph opened up about her mixed-race heritage and how it has had an impact on her career.
“There were times I was frustrated, like, ‘Why can’t I just play that role?’” “But obviously the person next to me that’s white is going to play that white character,” she said.
5. Shakira
Shakira comes from a Lebanese father and Colombian mother. Growing up in the music industry, Shakira faced challenges regarding her identity and feeling like she constantly needs to define who she is and where she belongs.
In a 2002 interview with Faze magazine, Shakira opened up about staying true to her heritage despite her label wanting her to venture out. “I am a fusion. That’s my persona. I’m a fusion between black and white, between pop and rock, between cultures—between my Lebanese father and my mother’s Spanish blood, the Colombian folklore and Arab dance I love and American music,” she expressed.
6. Devon Aoki
Devon Aoki’s father is of Japanese descent and her mother is of German and English descent. Aoki has encountered some challenges being an Asian-American actress in the entertainment industry.
In a 2006 interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Aoki admits to feeling pressure being an Asian-American actress, “I don’t see a lot of Asian faces who get to be on screen or get to be in print as a fashion model, or who get to be in the media. My mom is German-English. I grew up with my mom, but I can’t escape the way I look and my whole life I’ve had a strong sense of self because of it,” she expresses.
7. Chrissy Teigan
Chrissy Teigan comes from Thai and Norwegian descent. Teigan grew up loving her fathers culture and food, and feeling unsettled with the fact that her friends may not be familiar with that type of cuisine. She struggled to come to terms with her heritage and the way people may see her.
She became more aware of these differences and acknowledged the beauty of having these differences as she grew older, as opposed to feeling ashamed by them. In a 2018 interview with SheKnows Teigan expresses, “I hope I can do more. So many movies come out where they’re putting people who have no Asian background at all in roles, and it’s frustrating because you know that there is so much talent out there.”
8. K.J. Apa
KJ Apa best known for his leading role in Netflix Riverdale is of Samoan, Scottish, English, and Irish descent. In a 2017 interview with Vulture, he mentions how important his Samoan heritage is to him, and much of a cultural impact it has had on his life.
“I have a massive Samoan family. And the Samoan culture has always played a massive part of my life. I’ve got hundreds of family on my dad’s side that live in Samoa and in New Zealand. I’ve just been surrounded by the culture ever since I was a kid,” he explained.
9. Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz is of African-American, Russian-Jewish, and Native American descent. Kravitz has a strong sense of identity, but admits that wasn't always the case growing up in the 1960s and 1970s. Most of his struggles of being a biracial kid came from when he started going to school.
In a 2013 interview with the HuffPost, Kravitz mentions a memory of starting first grade where a boy ran up to him “He yelled, ‘Your father’s white!’” Lenny remembers. “I didn’t understand what that was about and why that was an issue... That was the first day that I had to think about it.”
10. Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet is of African-American and Jewish descent. Best known for her role in The Cosby Show, and her beauty and unique sense of style, Bonet has had her fair share of struggles with being biracial.
In an Interview with Net-A-Porter Bonet expresses her feelings of discomfort growing up, knowing what she knew about ‘being different’. “The world wasn’t ready for what I represented, the merging of these two races. I tried not to internalize the hate that was projected onto me.”
11. Jason Mamoa
Jason Mamoa identifies as being Native Hawaiian and of Polynesian descent. Momoa lived in Iowa for some time, but identifies strongly with his Hawaiian roots, "it's my home. I'm Hawaiian. It's my nationality,” he expressed in an interview with CNN.
Momoa is currently advocating for the preservation of Hawaii Volcano, Mauna Kea, expressing the importance of bringing awareness to the people and the native land. "I think there's a lot of problems in Hawaii. There's a lot of things that have happened in our history, a lot of injustice, and so we're shining a light on it.”
12. Olivia Munn
Olivia Munn is of German, Irish, English and Vietnamese descent. In an interview with Byrdie, Munn explains the way her heritage has shaped her definition of beauty. Munn expresses “I had to realize that there are certain things about myself that I can’t change, so learn to love it or learn to live in a state of always feeling inadequate.”
Munn also explains how the beauty industry doesn’t pay enough attention to the different features of ethnic women. She expresses “when I work with other makeup artists, sometimes they’ll do the same thing to me that they’ve done to a lot of white girls, and it doesn’t work.”
13. Shay Mitchell
Shay Mitchel is of Scottish, Irish, and Fillipino descent. Mitchell talks about her struggle growing up Fillipino, and how uncomfortable it was for her at school. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, she explains “I was so uncomfortable being Filipino,” she recalls. “I’d get ‘Oh, is your mom a nanny?’ It’s like, No, but even if she was, do you know how hard that is?”
Mitchell continued to deal with this discomfort all throughout highschool, as she felt the need to dye her hair a lighter color to ‘blend’ in.
14. Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones is of African-American and Jewish descent. Jones has been confronted by many uncomfortable and upsetting situations growing up biracial, mostly throughout her career.
In a family interview with Glamour, Rashida expresses, “when I auditioned for white roles, I’m told I’m ‘too exotic.’ When I go up for black roles, I'm told I’m ‘too light.’ I’ve lot a lot of jobs, looking the way I do.”
15. Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger is of Fillipino, Native Hawaiian, and Russian descent. In an interview with Pacific Citizen, Scherzinger admits to feeling blocked in her career due to her mixed race, especially in being casted for a particular role.
“Especially because I started out in theater and a lot of people didn't understand what my nationality was or what race I was. So, they were a little confused on how to cast me or where my place was,” she explained.
16. Slash
Saul Hudson, better known as Slash, is of African-American and English descent. Growing up biracial was very confusing for Hudson at the time. In an interview with USA Today he mentions not really grasping what the racial issue was until he was ‘confronted’ with it.
"I don't think I exactly identified with exactly what it was. I knew that I was very different from the kids that I was going to school with. I remember going to school and filling out forms with my mom, and it being black or white. And if she put black in there or white in there, it was always like, well yeah, how do you answer that?" he explained.
17. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is of African-American and Samoan descent. Son of professional wrestler Rocky Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion in Georgia. Following in his father's footsteps, Johnson also pursued a wrestling career before being an actor. Throughout his career as a wrestler and as an actor he has been confronted with the question of his identity and whether he identifies as being African-American or Samoan.
Responding to a social media debate about what he identifies as, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson responds, “Glad I came across this and I'll give you guys some context & truth. I identify as exactly what I am - both. Equally proud. Black/Samoan.”
18. Cash Warren
Cash Warren, husband of famous actress Jessica Alba is of African-American and Caucasian descent. Growing up biracial, Warren never felt out of place with his identity and felt very comfortable being both African-American and Caucasian.
In an Interview with HuffPost, when asked if he was ever teased as a child, Warren responded, “Growing up in L.A. and France, it wasn’t much of an issue. I’ve always felt very comfortable in who I am — being part black and part white.”
19. Pete Wentz
Pete Wentz is of English and German descent on his father’s side, and Afro-Jamaican descent on his mother’s side. Went began trending on Twitter in June 2020 when news broke out about him being biracial.
Many of his fans were only just finding out at the time. This came after Pete Wentz’s band fall out boy, donated $100,000 to National Bail Out and Black Visions Collective in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
20. Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller is of African-American and Caucasian descent. Growing up in Brooklyn, Miller felt comfortable with his background, but admits to being confronted by people trying to identify his race.
Miller told Interview magazine that he was surprised when someone asked about his race and felt it to be a ‘slap in the face.’ "Well, the backstory to anyone of mixed race is a lifetime spent being incorrectly perceived and choosing either to allow that misperception to continue or to correct it, so I am aware of identity and race as being much more fluid," he told Interview.
21. Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie comes from English, Mexican and African-American descent. Adopted daughter of famous musician Lionel Richie. Nicole Richie made a name for herself being an American TV personality and actress who later became a successful fashion designer.
Richie talks about her experience being bi-racial in the entertainment industry in an interview with US Magazine. She tells US magazine, “I’m mixed, and it’s work to do my hair, so I learned how to do it well myself.”
22. Adriana Lima
Adriana Lima is of Brazillian descent, with Swiss, African, Japanese and Native American roots. Adriana Lima is a model and actress well known for her Victoria Secret shows.
She identifies strongly with her ancestry, when asked, she stated on Fashion television that she is of Swiss, African, and Native American heritage. Lima has also said: “I’m an Afro-Brazilian… and my family is also mixed with Japanese, Black… and West Indian.”
23. Mya Harrison
Mya Harrison is of African-American and Italian descent. In an interview with South Coast Today, when asked if she ever felt uncomfortable because of her skin color, Maya expresses her discomfort growing up a child of color.
“I can remember a bit of racism growing up. My parents ofcourse were white and black. I was a minority because I was mixed. I can remember being as young as 5 years old and not wanting to be seen going out with my parents because I felt that people were staring at me like I was an alien or something,” Mya expressed.
24. Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys is of African-American, Italian, Irish and Scottish descent. Keys has been a long time activist against racial discrimantion, and spoke out on multiple platforms with intent ‘to make sure all issues were addressed,’ and that people were held accountable.
During a Nickelodeon special on racism in which Keys hosted, she talks about racism and the personal struggle she encountered in her own life and career. Her mother, who is white, was on multiple occasions mistaken as being her manager or babysitter, "that's what I got a lot when I first started to perform," Keys had said.
25. Paula Patton
Paula Patton is of African-American and Caucasion descent. In an interview with Women’s Health Magazine, Patton spoke out about being of mixed backgrounds, and explored her opinion on the matter.
“I find (the term) biracial offensive, it’s a way for people to separate themselves from African-Americans, a way of saying I’m better than that. I’m Black because that’s the way the world sees me,” Paula shares.
26. Halsey
Halsey is of African-American, Italian, Hungarian, and Irish descent. In an interview with Today, Halsey reflects on what being ‘white passing’ as a biracial woman means when fighting against racial injustice, and what impact it’s made on her life.
"I look like a white girl, but I don’t feel like one. I’m a black woman. So it’s been weird navigating that. When I was growing up I didn’t know if I was supposed to love TLC or Britney," Halsey expressed.
27. Naomi Scott
Naomi Scott is of Indian and English descent. In an interview with Teen Vogue, Scott expresses growing up not seeing many women who looked like her on TV, and how that played a part in her relationship with her own identity growing up.
“Don’t get me wrong, there were moments growing up where you’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t really feel Indian enough.’ But now I’m at a place where I’m like, You know what? It’s okay. It doesn’t make me any less Indian, or any less half Indian,” she says.
28. Amandla Stenberg
Amandla Stenberg is of African-American and Danish descent. Stenberg has always expressed pressure in the entertainment industry being a lighter-skinned biracial actress. In a recent chance to be part of the black panther movie, she turned down the opportunity as she felt “That was not a space that I should have taken up,” she told Variety.
Stenberg also mentions experiencing some moments in the industry where she felt racism and sexism. “I can speak to certain events, but I don’t necessarily want to,” she expressed.
29. Aubrey Plaza
Aubrey Plaza is of Puerto Rican, English, and Irish descent. In an interview with Latina magazine, Plaza expresses her struggle with her own identity. Although she felt very connected to her Puerto Rican roots, growing up biracial, she ‘felt terrible’ in circumstances for being only ‘half’ Latino.
“I was winning the diversity awards and people were always calling bullshit on me,” Plaza told Latina magazine. “I won the Hispanic teenager of the year and I felt terrible. I always felt like I didn’t deserve to win because I was really half Latino.”
30. Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele is of African-American and English descent. American actor, comedian and filmmaker, Peele expressed his feelings about being biracial growing up. In an interview with NPR, “I even remember, you know, when I was a kid that, every now and then you'd come upon somebody who would sort of question how I spoke, whether or not, you know, I was trying to be something I wasn't.”
He continues to say, “It cannot be a coincidence that I decided to go into this career where my whole purpose is sort of altering the way I speak and experiencing these different characters.”
31. Kimora Lee Simmons
Kimora Lee Simmons is of African-American and Korean descent. Simmons had her fair share of discomfort growing up biracial as she explores in an article for Working Mother. “I was a loner growing up. I was a mixed-race girl with a Korean-Japanese mother and an African-American father, and none of the other kids at my school were like me.”
In contrast to these struggles she affirms girls that might be going through something similar by stating “Even though I felt a bit like a freak in school, my unusual looks were just right somewhere else—in the world of modeling.”
32. Zoe Kravitz
Zoe Kravitz, daughter of actor-musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, is of African-American and Jewish descent. Kravitz has expressed deep comfort in herself and her identity, much more than most actresses her age have.
Growing up though she did experience discomfort with her race, especially in school. In an interview with Allure, “I had this struggle of accepting myself as black and loving that part of myself. And now I’m so in love with my culture and so proud to be black. It’s still ongoing, but a big shift has occurred,” Kravitz expresses.
33. J-Cole
J-Cole is of African-American, Irish, German, Scotting, and English descent. In an interview with XXL Mag, he talks about growing up biracial with a caucasion mother, and the impact that had on him. “My mother was White, but to me, I never looked at her like that. I would only become aware of that when we were in public or when she would pick me up from school,” Cole shares.
He continues, “I would be like, Oh, man, everybody gonna see my mom is White.That was the only time I’d be aware. Not that my mother was acting Black, ’cause she wasn’t, but she’s just my mom.”
34. H.E.R
H.E.R is of African-American and Filipino descent. When talking about her childhood, H.E.R often refers to her mixed backgrounds and childhood growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In an interview with WWD, H.E.R expresses how diverse her home was, with her mother cooking Filipino food and her father making ‘soul food,’ “Black culture, to me, is so important and I identify with young black women. I represent young black women, and I’m proud of that.”
35. Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi is of Māori, Russian Jewish, and Irish descent. In an interview with Daze, Waititi talks about his experience growing up half-polynesian in New Zealand. Waititi talks about feeling profiled, “I think New Zealand is the best place on the planet, but it’s a racist place. People just flat-out refuse to pronounce Maori names properly,” he said.
Then continues, “Growing up it was very normal to go into a store and they would say, ‘What do you want?’ And you’d be like, (muttering) ‘I’m just looking at chips, man.’ I remember getting a job at a dairy and they would never give me a job at the till.”
36. Henry Golding
Henry Golding is of English and Malaysian descent. Golding’s latest role in the movie ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ stirred up some racial comments which he countered in an Interview with Bustle.
Fans were outraged accusing Golding of not being ‘Asian Enough,’ Golding’s response was "People are right to question my ethnic background.” And continues, "Just because by blood I'm not full Asian doesn't mean I can't own my Asianness. And I relate so much more with my Asian side."
37. Tracee Ellis Ross
Tracee Ellis Ross is of African-American and Jewish descent. In her well known role as Rainbow Johnson in the TV series ‘Black-ish’ she talks about how excited she was to star in her first role as a woman of colour, but feels her biracial identity isn't explored enough.
In an interview with USA Today, "In all honesty the mixed-race experience hasn’t been explored,” “I remember when I first got ‘Black-ish’ I was so excited because it was truly my first time playing a mixed woman on television. But even on ‘Black-ish’ we haven’t completely explored it.”
38. Keegan-Michael Key
Keegan-Michael Key is of African-American, Polish and Belgian Flemish descent. Key describes his experience growing up biracial as ‘tough.’ In a 2012 Interview with CNN he talked about how children should grow up with comfort and not have to deal with such heavy identity questions, which he couldn't avoid.
Key explains, "Since a young age, we’re asked to categorize ourselves on these standardized tests, to mark a box: white, black, other, to make me ponder that as a child, and make somebody put me in that category.”
39. Avan Jogia
Avan Jogia is of Indian, English, and Irish descent. In a 2019 Interview with 34th Street, he talks about his dealings with race, and turning them into something you can read and interpret with feeling, despite the discomfort.
Jogia decided to convert both his own experiences with race and those he received from others into poetry. "I think scars around race are so close to the heart and sensitive," he expresses. "Being able to sit and read and meditate on a feeling or an idea by yourself is a great way directly to feel and interpret your feelings about your racial identity.”
40. Yara Shahidi
Yara Shahidi is of African-American and Iranian descent. Shahidi is another actress who has been a public activist against racial profiling and discrimination of biracial women. "Being someone that is half-black and half-Iranian and proud of both sides, it gave me a community of people that identify as blackish," she expresses on teenvogue.
Shahidi continues, "Because so many times, if you are of any race, there is a certain feeling of this meter of like, ‘How black am I? How Iranian am I?’ and it's hard when you're both to feel as though you can coexist as both and be fully both."