-I want to get to know you a little bit better now.
I'm going to ask you some questions.
You were about to go to film school here in NYU, right?
-Yes, I was. I deferred once,
and then I deferred again,
and then I was like, "I'm not coming, I'm so sorry."
[ Laughter ]
-It was like, "I'm not going to film school. I am film."
[ Laughter ]
-Well, I was getting all these amazing opportunities.
I got the opportunity to do "The Hate U Give,"
and I was like, "Well, why would I pay to go to film school
when I could get paid to go to film school?"
-Yeah. Yeah, you could learn on set.
-Yeah. -Learn from the best.
So it was the gap year that turned into a --
-A gap life. -A gap life, yeah.
Well, the gap life seemed to work out.
Because happy to show this debut.
You're on the cover of "Time" magazine.
Just announced.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Just announced!
That just got announced right today.
I'm so happy for you. -That's me.
-That's neat, pal. -Thank you.
-That's legendary. "Time" magazine.
-I know. It's such an honor.
I can't even believe it.
It's literally nuts to think about.
-I mean this is -- Well, you're very politically
active, as well as your acting.
Tell the story if you don't mind
about how you went to a Me Too meeting at an agency.
-Oh, yes, yes. Okay. Yeah.
So, um, I -- -It's funny.
-Thank you for setting me up.
I really have to deliver now. -Oh, no, no.
I already know the story, so, yeah, please --
-So I have been going to these Time's Up meetings and stuff,
and it's been so amazing 'cause I get to be around
all these people that I really look up to.
Like, I went to this Women of Color meeting
where Tracy Ellis Ross was there.
Shonda Rhimes was there, Rashida Jones.
Just like the most seminal women of color of Hollywood.
I feel so deferential to.
And I wanted to feel like really kind of, like, dapper to go.
So I put on these boots that had, like,
a little bit of a heel, and I have this problem,
and like, I'm good, like, don't worry about me.
But I have like an old man disease where, like, if I --
It's not a disease. It's like hereditary.
If I kind of, like, move a certain way,
like, my knee caps will slide out of place.
[ Audience murmurs ]
-Oh, no. No. No. No.
Really? And it does -- does it hurt you?
-It hurts a little bit,
but I'm, like, pretty used to it at this point. You know?
It's been happening for a while. -Yeah.
-Like I got it -- My Uncle has it, too.
So I went to one of these meetings, and I showed up.
-You got your boots. -And I had my little boots on,
and I got in there, and, like, went to sit down in my seat,
and I could feel it. And it was like --
Then the knee cap started sliding,
and I just watched it slide out of place,
and I fell into the ground, and I was like --
Waaaaaah!
[ Laughter ]
And I looked up and just, like, Shonda Rhimes, Tracy Ellis Ross.
They were all, like, staring at me.
-Oh, my God. -"Are you okay?"
-And like I'm used to this. So I was just like -- Wabap!
[ Laughter ]
Kinda just, like, knocked it back in.
-Dude, I just love that. -Back into place.
-You just smacked it back in, and was like -- -
"Okay, let's start the meeting quickly
and get this over with."
-And I was like, "All right, let's go.
Like, back to the patriarchy."
[ Laughter ]
-How old were when you did "Hunger Games"?
-I was 12 years old.
-12 years old, and was Jennifer Lawrence --
Did she take you under her wing?
-She did. She was super sweet to me.
-What did you learn from Jennifer Lawrence?
-She taught me how to pee in the woods.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah. Wow.
That's fantastic, yeah. -She's from Kentucky.
-I gotta write that down. I got to call her for that.
Yeah, that's something you want to learn.
-Yeah. That's something you --- probably helpful in life.
I definitely used it a few times since then.
-Do you guys stay in touch? -You know,
I haven't really seen her that much.
I mean, she's so busy. She's Jennifer Lawrence.
-Obviously, yeah.
-But I saw her at this brunch recently.
And I went up to her, and so she looked at me,
and she was like -- she didn't recognize me
for a second, and then she was like,
"Oh, my God, you have boobs!"
[ Laughter ]
I was like -- I was like, "A few things have happened."
-Yeah, I was 12 years old. -I was like, "Wow, I do?"
-Wow, yeah, exactly. -I blocked out puberty.
I don't remember a thing.
-Let's talk about your movie, "The Hate U Give."
Congratulations. Critics -- There's a lot of buzz on this.
-Thank you. -And well deserved.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you so much.
-Amandla, it's based off of a poem, right, from Tupac?
-Yeah. So it's based off the premise,
"THUG LIFE" which is "The hate you give
little infants eff -- you can't say the F-word on TV.
-No. -Eff everybody.
So it's basically the premise that whatever you do to kids,
the systems and structures that you put them into,
that persecute them as children comes back to bite everyone
in the butt when we all grow up.
-What is the film about?
-So the film is about this girl named Starr Carter
who is code switching
between these two different environments.
-Code switching? -Code switching.
-What is code switching? -Code switching is like --
Like the first time that I experienced code switching
or witnessed it when I was a kid is when my mom would be like,
[ Sternly ] "Child, if you do not rinse
your damn dishes, I swear."
And then, like, the phone would ring. She'd be like,
[ Sweetly ] "Hello, this is Karen.
[ Laughter ] Hi."
-That's two different people. Yeah.
-Yeah, like a lot of people... -Code switching.
-...experience code switching, but then if you're black
and you forget to code switch,
like the result could be that you get shot by a cop.
So that's what this film is about.
-Oof. And it's you and Common, who we love.
He was on the show for this film.
We love Common so much. -Yeah, he's so cool, man.
-What a great guy, but also, what did you say?
I even forget, like, that he's a great rapper,
because he's just such a nice guy.
-I know. -"How you doing, Jimmy?
How are you, man?" -Just so chill.
-He tears it up on the stage.
I go, "Oh, my God, you're amazing.
Dude, you're Common. -Yeah, yes.
-You're Common. -You're Common.
-But you're un-common. -Yes! Wow!
[ Laughter ] -That wasn't funny.
-It was. That was cute. I like it.
-Thanks. -We have a clip.
Here is Amandla Stenberg and Common in "The Hate U Give."
Check this out.
-So if I think I see a gun, I don't hesitate.
I shoot.
-Because you think you see a gun?
You don't say something first? Like, "Put your hands up"?
-It depends. Is it night?
Can I see? Am I on duty alone?
-What if you were in a white neighborhood
and it was a white man wearing a suit and driving a Mercedes?
He could be a drug dealer, right?
-He could.
-So if you saw him reach into the window
and you thought that you saw a gun,
would you shoot him,
or would you say, "Put your hands up"?
♪♪
-Our thanks to Amandla Stenberg! [ Cheers and applause ]