Juliet Is Not a Real Person Anyways!

Tom Holland. He’s known for many things such as being British and dating THE Zendaya. That being said one of the biggest things he is known for is his acting career. In 2016 he gained popularity as he was brought into the Marvel Universe to play Peter Parker/Spiderman. He then went on to be in other movies such as Onward and Uncharted. As Tom Holland’s success grew one thing remained the same- he loves theater. That is why it was not surprising when in 2024 Tom Holland announced that he is going to be starring as Romeo in director Jamie Lloyd’s production of Romeo and Juliet.  Although the show itself got mixed reviews one thing was widely agreed upon– Francesca Amewudah-Rivers (Juliet) is not “pretty enough” to play Tom Holland’s love interest. 

Who is Francesca Amewudah-Rivers? 

Born in 1998 to a Ghanaian father and Nigerian mother, Francesca grew up in Brighton, England. Francesca was trained in theater and from a young age she loved music so she went to Oxford University to major in it. She landed a few roles in TV and different plays. I can not begin to imagine her excitement when she was officially cast as Juliet next to Tom Holland, yet her excitement started to dwindle once she heartbreakingly received an extremely racist backlash. Unfortunately, Rivers has spoken about her experience being the only Black person of her graduating class in Oxford so discrimination is not a new experience for her. My mind can not fathom why so many people are still blatantly racist in 2024. 

I was lying in bed and scrolling through TikTok when I came across a video of Tom Holland and Franchesca Amewudah-Rivers on stage bowing in front of a cheering audience. Imagine my surprise when I opened the comments and there- right in front of my eyes- were thousands and thousands of people ridiculing Amewudah-Rivers for the way that she looks. I could not find one singular comment that went against this racist and misogynistic barricade of hate. I was mortified. Let me get one thing straight- Francesca Amewudah-Rivers is absolutely stunning. She is a beautiful, talented, smart, hardworking woman with a whole bunch of amazing opportunities ahead of her that the people leaving nasty comments couldn’t even DREAM of. 

I am so tired of seeing society give women of color fame and then tearing them apart because of the way that they look or act or what they say or don’t say. 

Although the production company, the director, Francesca’s castmates, and 800 Black actors have commended the hate and stood in solidarity with her the situation has snowballed. All you need to do is look at the comments under her Instagram posts to see just how awful and absolutely revolting our society treats Black women.  

Francesca Amewudah-Rivers is continuing to perform as Juliet alongside Tom Holland. I hope that Francesca can heal from this experience and I can not wait to see what else she is capable of. As @nanntsehay wrote in response to all the racist comments, “Keep shining. Don’t hide. Stay beautiful and reppin’ for Black beauty. So many of us see us in you.”