Season 01, Episode 07: Making It As a “Social Beauty” in Hollywood
The BLK IRL Podcast is an audio docuseries that explores the business of “influencing” and the power dynamics at play in the act of cultural exchange. Join host Anuli Akanegbu as she dissects themes related to race in the influencer economy through research-supported commentary and intimate interviews with predominantly Black content creators, scholars, entrepreneurs, activists, marketing experts, and cultural critics.
In this episode, Anuli talks to Andrea Lewis about her career expansion from acting to now also content creating and producing, the need for more diverse representation on-screen and behind-the-scenes in Hollywood, and how Covid-19 has affected the production of her upcoming feature-length documentary project, “Social Beauty.”
FEATURED SPEAKER: Andrea Lewis
Andrea's artistic talents emerged at age 5. And, even before celebrating her 16th birthday, this Toronto born, Entertainer had already acted alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Diahann Carroll in The Natalie Cole Story and Wesley Snipes and Dr. Maya Angelou in her directorial debut, the critically acclaimed Down in the Delta. After wrapping up on the Disney movie Cadet Kelly alongside Hilary Duff, Lewis soon spent 6 seasons on the hit show Degrassi: The Next Generation and became known around the world as "Hazel" as millions of North Americans tuned in each week to watch Andrea in the Award-winning drama. After Degrassi, she went on to other leading roles on Showtime, Nickelodeon and BET. Taking her career to another level Lewis started Jungle Wild Productions, where she created the award winning hit web series’ “Black Actress.” You can keep up with her other productions at youtube.com/AndreaLewisChannel.
Referenced Materials
Curtin, Michael, and Kevin Sanson. 2016. Precarious Creativity: Global Media, Local Labor. Oakland, CA: University of California Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ffjn40.5?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Drury, Sharareh. 2020. “Hollywood's Black Hair Problem on Set: "We've All Cried in Our Trailers."” The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-s-black-hair-problem-set-we-ve-all-cried-trailers-1274876.
Hidalgo, Melania. 2018. “Will Smith Is the Fresh Prince of Instagram with 17 Million Followers — Here Are His Best Posts.” People. https://people.com/movies/will-smith-fresh-prince-of-instagram/.
Paoletta, Kyle. 2020. “Why it’s Harder Than Ever to Make it in Hollywood.” The New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/article/158491/its-harder-ever-make-hollywood.
Pener, Degen, and David Kaufman. 2020. “"Being Othered in a Hair and Makeup Trailer": An Oral History of Styling and Beautifying Black Stars in Hollywood.” The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/being-othered-in-a-hair-and-makeup-trailer-an-oral-history-of-styling-and-beautifying-black-stars-in-hollywood.
Perez, Lexy. 2020. “Influencer Jackie Aina to Executive Produce 'Social Beauty' Documentary (Exclusive).” The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/influencer-jackie-aina-executive-produce-social-beauty-documentary-1306592.
Wang Yuen, Nancy. 2016. Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1kc6jvm?turn_away=true.