Letitia Wright Wins Rising Star BAFTA 2019 + Talks Depression

Guyanese-born actress, Letitia Wright, has seemed to shot to overnight stardom, however, like many before her, such isn’t the case.

The 25 year old British-based actress, who achieved global recognition for her role as Shuri in Black Panther, has received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ (BAFTA) Rising Star Award.

Check out her soulful acceptance speech below, as she mentions overcoming depression and encourages others to not give up…

In an interview with Teen Vogue in March 2018, Letitia opened up a lot more on her struggle with depression. Check out this repost from Blavity below:

“In the black community, it’s something that happens, but we don’t speak about it. We have to continue to talk about it and bring it straight to the forefront,” said Wright who confirmed she has battled depression. “And [that doesn’t only apply to] the black community but different races as well.”

The actress also revealed that it was her struggle with depression that deepened her much-lauded faith.

“I speak boldly about [depression] because I struggled with it and I tried to find different ways [to heal], and it just didn’t work. I had to look deeper to find what could hold me, and I found that what held me together was my relationship with Jesus and my relationship with God,” she continued.

Things got so bad, however that Wright took an acting break four years ago in order to tend to her own mental health. “It was like this repetitive cycle that you can’t break out of,” she said. “I did personally deal with it, and I just had to surrender to God, and I found that it really worked for me.”

Wright also touched on how being open about her struggles has helped others.

“Even to this day, I’ll be at events and people will pull me to the side and tell me that they deal with the [situations] that I’ve dealt with. And I’m grateful because I want people to find a way out,” she noted.

On a brighter note, due to the global success of Black Panther, Letitia is the highest box-office earning actor, but unfortunately, not the highest paid.

Congrats on staying in the game Letitia! Keep waving your Guyanese flag high and spreading the news on mental health!