“I’ve been the lead girlfriend in a lot of films, but for you to be the lead lead, the number one on the call sheet, there’s not a lot of opportunities for us.”
There are some dream jobs that few people ever have the honour of doing. This, of course, includes being an established actress and director in Hollywood. This means it’s all the more remarkable when a person manages to do both. Just look no further than Salli Richardson Whitfield.
More success inevitably followed, with Richardson sweeping up roles in movies such as A Low Down Dirty Shame and Once Upon a Time… When We Were Colored. It was a great start to what would become an even greater career, but Richardson still felt that there were certain limitations associated with being a black woman in Hollywood. In particular, there were few opportunities to land the leading roles in the big budget movies.
During an interview with Black Film in 2013, Richardson admitted that things have begun to improve in this department – but argued that white women were still at an advantage over their black counterparts.
She said:
“I’d like to say its gotten better but its extremely hard, especially something good. I’ve been the lead girlfriend in a lot of films, but for you to be the lead lead, the number one on the call sheet, there’s not a lot of opportunities for us.”
Despite this, Richardson would see her star growing brighter and brighter towards the late 90s. She became a series regular on Family Law and was soon after cast in movies such as Antwone Fisher and Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid.
Then in 2006, Richardson would land the role she’s most famous for: playing Allison Blake in the SyFy series Eureka. This role put Richardson in front of a weekly audience of millions and even earned her a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series.
Perhaps more importantly, it gave Richardson the opportunity to sidestep into a new career as a director.
Richardson was inspired to make this move after working with filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who directed, wrote and produced the film I Will Follow in 2011. Speaking admirably about DuVernay in an interview with AALBC at the time, Richardson gushed:
“She is wonderful. Very focused. Like I said, she knows what she wants.”
The opportunities to direct soon followed, with Richardson first taking to the helm on an episode of Eureka. It was a match made in heaven. Never one to miss the opportunity to praise the women of colour who had come before her, years later Richardson was still thanking DuVernay for paving the way.
Speaking to Amsterdam News in 2017, she said:
“I credit Ava DuVernay for planting the seed in my head, almost 10 years ago. She teased me [on that set] and challenged me: “You want to direct?” – and somewhere the question stuck.”
After directing two episodes of Eureka, Richardson went on to work her same magic for some of television’s biggest shows, including Scandal, Shadowhunters and American Gods. Richardson’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed by the critics during this time.
First of all, she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for an episode of Luke Cage in 2018. Then in 2019, she was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series at the Black Reel Awards for her contributions to Black-ish.
What motivates Richardson? Well, she’s driven by the prospect of increasing lead roles for black actresses and ensuring that other women of colour don’t face the obstacles she first felt when entering the industry.
She once told Black Film:
“That’s why it’s so important the amount of work that black female directors are doing now, and I think those things will change with us in the driver’s seat.”
It seems Richardson is far from finished with changing the landscape of the entertainment industry.