See how Hollywood is prioritizing inclusivity and diverse representation in book-to-screen adaptations, and the importance of challenging the source material for more inclusive storytelling.


Janelle Monae/Hidden Figures-Courtesy of Movie Web
JonBook-to-screen adaptations are taking over theaters and streaming services everywhere. Whether it be the next blockbuster film or a cozy limited series, Hollywood is hungry to snap up stories with existing fan bases. As successful as these adaptations are, it can be difficult to find diverse representation if the original work didn’t have it and filmmakers “stay true” to the source material.
Black creatives are making strides within the industry, whether it be writer and director Ryan Coogler, who often works alongside Michael B. Jordan, or Janet Mock, who served as an executive producer and writer for Netflix’s Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. However, the book-to-screen space is still lacking, both in casting diversely for roles where culture and ethnicity are not central to the story and in investing dollars behind Black stories. Yet several films show just how powerful, and successful, these stories can be. Here are the 10 best Black book-to-screen adaptations.
Some entries on this list are not all-Black casts, yet feature Black characters/actors in prominent roles.
Bridgerton
If we want to talk about creatives breaking barriers, it’s hard not to think of Shonda Rhimes and her Shondaland empire. Before Bridgerton hit Netflix’s screening platform with its swoony goodness, it was an eight-book Regency romance series by American author Julia Quinn. For lovers of Jane Austen, the book itself scratched an itch. Of course, where the show went that the book did not was casting diversely for key roles. Historical fiction and drama pieces in general are notorious for lacking diversity, and oftentimes when a person of color is shown is in the context of slavery or subordinate roles.
Here, viewers can watch actors such as Regé-Jean Page, Golda Rosheuvel, Adjoa Andoh, among others, in opulent costumes, playing characters with prestigious titles. Of course, there isn’t to say there’s more to be done here. Some fans and critics question how progressive the casting is when most of the Black actors are lighter-skinned and/or mixed. Refinery 29 journalist Kathleen Newman-Bremang said, “Just sprinkling some light-skinned Blackness in there isn’t enough.” Yet Netflix disclosed that season two clocked in over 193 million hours watched during the premiere, so despite its oversights, fans are still tuning in.
Here, viewers can watch actors such as Regé-Jean Page, Golda Rosheuvel, Adjoa Andoh, among others, in opulent costumes, playing characters with prestigious titles. Of course, there isn’t to say there’s more to be done here. Some fans and critics question how progressive the casting is when most of the Black actors are lighter-skinned and/or mixed. Refinery 29 journalist Kathleen Newman-Bremang said, “Just sprinkling some light-skinned Blackness in there isn’t enough.” Yet Netflix disclosed that season two clocked in over 193 million hours watched during the premiere, so despite its oversights, fans are still tuning in.
The Secret Life of Bees
Before The Secret Life of Bees was an NAACP Image Award-nominated film with a star-studded ensemble cast, it was a historical fiction novel by Sue Monk Kidd. The New York Times bestseller follows a young girl and her mother-like figure in 1964 who flee to another town in South Carolina hoping to discover more about the girl’s deceased mother. While there, they find themselves living with a family of beekeeping Black women. Due to the period and location, themes of race are prevalent in this story.
With over 8 million copies sold, it was only a matter of time before this book would transform into a visual medium. And that star-studded ensemble cast mentioned? We’re talking Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Sophie Okonedo, not to mention Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith as producers. According to IMDb, the budget for the film is around $11 million, and it made just under that for its opening weekend. These numbers don’t shed light on the moving performances of these multi-talented actresses. Lovers of heart-wrenching historical fiction should definitely check out this book-to-screen adaptation.
From Scratch
Let’s mix things up with Netflix’s From Scratch. Unlike the two previous original sources, this book is a memoir by actress-turned-journalist Tembi Locke. Some may recognize Locke from her appearance on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or The Jamie Foxx Show. However, her memoir From Scratch: A Memoir on Love, Sicily, and Finding Home is what gained her the most notoriety. In the book, Locke recounts her experience studying abroad in Florence. She wanted to experience the art, food, culture, and maybe along the way a little romantic fun. She got that and more when she met Sicilian chef Saro.
Throughout the book, Locke navigates the cultural biases from both Saro’s side of the family and her own. In the Netflix adaptation brought to life by Reese Witherspoon’s media company Hello Sunshine, Zoe Saldana embodies the carefree, hopeless romantic spirit of Tembi (renamed Amy in the show). Despite the heavy themes of grief and illness, this book-to-screen adaptation will leave viewers feeling like true love really does exist. And there’s a slight chance you’ll be tempted to book a one-way flight to Italy.
Kindred
Both the on-page and on-screen iterations of Kindred are highly underrated. The book is a science fiction novel by the late Octavia E. Butler. It opens with a killer line: “I lost an arm on my last trip home.” If that doesn’t pull you in, learning about Dana’s teeny problem of getting sucked from mid-1970s California to the Antebellum South definitely will. That would be a problem in and of itself, but add to it the fact that Dana is a Black woman (married to a white man who later gets pulled to the past with her), and what follows is an innovative novel. Butler was a master at her craft and explores the topic with such nuance and intrigue.
The Hulu original makes several changes to the original work. For starters, Dana isn’t living in the 70s, but the mid-2010s. Another notable difference is that, here, she and her love interest Kevin aren’t married, but instead just met and hooked up a couple of times. The biggest shift from the original is the introduction of Dana’s mother who plays a significant role. While some of the changes work better than others, seeing Dana move through a slave plantation and unlearn how she walks through life in modern-day America is fascinating. Both works give insight into how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go when it comes to dealing with racism in the U.S.
Little Fires Everywhere
Celeste Ng is no stranger to successful book releases. Whether it be her debut novel Everything I Never Told You, which won Amazon’s Book of the Year Award, or her recent Reese’s Book Club pick Our Missing Hearts. However, the title most associated with her is likely Little Fires Everywhere, published in 2017 and boasting over a million ratings on Goodreads.
The story follows a suburban white family who becomes involved with a new addition to their secular neighborhood, Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl. Fans of the book are unclear about what ethnicity Mia is in the book. However, Ng herself said to Asia Society Magazine, “I don’t claim to know what it’s like to be Black in America. I can imagine some aspects of it, but I don’t feel I know that experience well enough to write about it. That’s part of why I didn’t write Mia as a Black woman…”
Yet in the Hulu series, Mia is played by Kerry Washington, and her daughter, Pearl, by Lexi Underwood. So, while most of the actors in this adaptation aren’t Black, that’s kind of the point. A lot of themes Ng centered in this story involve being othered/on the outside. Washington’s chops are never in question, but the raw emotion and vulnerability she delivers as Mia keeps viewers glued to the screen.
The Color Purple
Many people heard of and seen the 1985 period drama The Color Purple, directed by Steven Spielberg. Fewer people may know the original story was written by Alice Walker just three years prior. That’s not to say the book wasn’t popular, in fact, it won the Pulitzer Prize. However, the performances by Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and more, shook so many people, it was as if they were watching the story unfold for the first time.
The Color Purple is set in the early-1900s. Our main character, Celie, played by Goldberg, connects with the sisters she was separated from through a series of letters. It’s a coming-of-age tale that tackles a slew of heavy topics. Check out trigger warnings before diving into the book or film, but some of the issues covered include racism, domestic violence, and incest.
Winfrey shines in her role as Sofia, a headstrong woman who pushes against what is expected of wives at the time. Her “all my life I had to fight” monologue is often quoted. (And parodied. Yes, we’re looking at you, Tyler Perry). The film is getting updated to a musical starring American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino and singer-actress Halle Bailey, which brings us to…
The Little Mermaid
Yes, The Little Mermaid is technically a book-to-screen adaptation! Many people know these fairy tales from the Disney movies we grew up with, but many of them are based on classic novels. While the movie was “Disney-fied” to suit a child audience, the bones of the story began with Hans Christian Andersen in 1837. The Danish writer is behind many of the fairy tales we know and love: The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, and, of course, The Little Mermaid.
When Disney announced Halle Bailey as the lead role of Ariel, it’s an understatement to say it made a splash. There were millions of people not only excited to see one of their favorite princesses come to life, but were equally excited to see the role go to someone who embodied the essence of the character even if she didn’t look exactly like the original. There was also a sizable amount of backlash from those who believed Ariel should be cast as she was depicted. Redhead. Blue eyes. Oh, and very, very, white. This entire situation sparked lots of conversation and debate. Ultimately, Bailey delivers a princess-worthy performance, and the film, according to Box Office Mojo, earned over $425 million worldwide.
The Pursuit of Happyness
Yes, fellow grammar nerds, that’s happyness with a y. Chris Gardner is an author, motivational speaker, and businessman who wrote his memoir The Pursuit of Happyness about a time before he gave speeches at the United Nations. The memoir, and subsequently, the movie, follows Gardner while he is homeless in Sacramento. When you mix in a young child, the stakes become all the more dire. The film stars real-life father-son duo Will Smith and Jaden Smith.
Of course, the chemistry between both actors is palpable. Jaden, only eight years old at the time, won the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance. This film is for anyone who is down on their luck and looking for a way out or a way to stay afloat during difficult times. As for the reasoning behind the misspelled word in the title? Apparently, it was the name of a daycare Gardner sent his son to.
Fences
If a single film manages to scoop up Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, you know it ought to be good. Fences is a tad unique from the rest, as it wasn’t a novel or memoir the film was based on, but a play. American playwright August Wilson penned this story in 1985 and it later won the Pulitzer Prize. In the play and film, we follow married couple Troy Maxson (Washington) and Rose Lee Maxson (Davis), and their son Cory (played by Jovan Adepo).
While many of the images you can find show a happy couple, the marriage is anything but. Troy comes from a troubled past, to say the least — an abusive father, striking out on his own at fourteen, murdering a man, and jail time. He is resentful and jaded over where life has taken him, and he takes it out on his wife and son. The movie is an exploration of how our past and upbringing influence us and what power we have to rewrite our story.
Hidden Figures
The book’s title is a mouthful: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. Luckily, the 2016 drama shortened it to a much pithier Hidden Figures. Three Black mathematicians, Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), struggle to make their voices heard both as women and Black women. Each woman works in different departments within NASA and is determined to contribute to the Space Race.
Not enough good things can be said about this movie. The performances across the board were phenomenal. These ladies’ intelligence is inspiring to see unfold. By covering their story, Shetterly opened up a new question in the public’s minds: What other amazing women have I never heard of? Especially women of color, who, as we uncover in Hidden Figures, were undermined and unappreciated.