Source: Adam Larkey / Getty
You might imagine that for as long as Black people have been in the entertainment industry, dominating it in many ways, that industry professionals would know how to care for our hair. But that’s no how racism works. White people are seen as the default. They’re presented with the lion’s share of the opportunities and hair stylists and makeup artists don’t have to take the addition time to learn about Black hair because Black actors and characters are often cast as afterthoughts.
That was the case for Monique Coleman, the lone Black girl in the principle cast for the Disney franchise High School Musical.
Reflecting on the role, Coleman, in an interview with Insider, explained how far things have come in Hollywood.
But back in 2006, when she was portraying the role of Taylor McKessie, she devised a plan for her character because the hair stylists couldn’t figure out how to do her hair properly.
Coleman, celebrating the film’s 15th anniversary, said, “We’ve grown a lot in this industry and we’ve grown a lot in representation and we’ve grown a lot in terms of understanding the needs of an African American actress. But the truth is, is that they had done my hair, and they had done it very poorly in the front.”
They were running short on time so Coleman suggested that they use a headband and it make it a part of who the character’s signature.
She says she and her cast mates were lucky that the Disney crew were “very open to our feedback.”
Coleman’s character continued wearing headbands in the subsequent High School Musical films released in 2007 and 2008.
Still, with that bit of difficulty, Coleman was thankful to be able to play the role, particularly because Taylor wasn’t a stereotypical Black girl.
“Taylor is such a dynamic character and the smartest person at school and all of that at a time where, often, Black girl characters tended to be the ones who had an attitude or to be sassy. And I appreciated that that wasn’t why people loved Taylor. They loved her because she was smart and supportive. And it definitely means a lot to me for people to see her. There was Taylor before the Obamas were a thing. So we didn’t have people to look up to. So knowing that this generation got to look up to her really is special for me.”
And for those in the audience who had aspirations of doing what Coleman was doing on screen she said,
“I’m really grateful to have been someone who was able to bring representation at a time where there wasn’t very much, and I’m so happy when I see this next generation of young artists and there just being so much more room for people of color.”
