I
t’s an overcast afternoon in Richmond Park when Letitia
Wright emerges for her Bazaar photo-shoot; thankfully,
the drizzle has not dampened her spirits. ‘That’s my
song!’ she exclaims as Nicki Minaj blares from the
speakers, and she dances loose-limbed through the rain-
slicked grass, at ease in front of the camera as befits her
soaring career trajectory.
Since starting out in London at Identity School of Acting, an institution
founded to promote minority talent, Wright has valued the power of
cinema to tell diverse stories. She prides herself on being a role model and
has always used her work to give voice to the underrepresented. ‘I’m very
picky about what I do,’ she says. ‘Early on, I would just say no if the roles
weren’t progressive for myself or my community.’ This rejection went both
ways, and Wright found herself passed over for parts because of her skin
colour. ‘You are told there’s not much for you. I just ignored it and I’m still
ignoring it,’ she says, defiantly. ‘I want to work with anyone who has some-
thing to say. If it’s meaningful and serves a purpose, I’m up for it.’
Her first leading role was that of a troubled teenager in Urban Hymn, a
gritty drama set against the backdrop of the 2011 London riots. She found
a mentor in the director Michael Caton-Jones, who advised her to continue
to expand her artistic horizons. ‘He really taught me a lot about film-
making,’ she says. ‘It set the tone for what I would be doing for my future.
He would say, “After this, stretch yourself. Do something completely dif-
ferent.”’ Wright did just that, ricocheting between science-fiction (BlackAGATA POSPIESZYNSKA