On 1 February 2023, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Arts and Letters from the University of Guyana at an Extraordinary Convocation Ceremony.[4][5][6]
Wright performed in school plays, but she credits her desire to be a professional actress to seeing the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee. She found Keke Palmer's performance inspiring, remarking that the role "resonated. It's one of the reasons why I'm here".[7] She attended the Identity School of Acting, enrolling at the age of 16.[8][9]
In 2018, Wright was also featured in a play called The Convert, which was staged at London's Young Vic Theatre. The play was the story of an English-speaking missionary in the 19th century, where the Africans were trained to speak Victorian English and engage in Christianity. This play was set in 1895, when a Black male Catholic teacher and missionary called Chilford occupies a mission house in Rhodesian Salisbury.[19] Wright plays the character of a Jekesai, a young Rhodesia girl who is being forced into marriage by her uncle, but luckily is saved by Chilford.[20]
In November 2018, it was announced that Wright would be starring alongside John Boyega in a novel adaptation of Hold Back The Stars.[24] Wright appeared in 2022's Death on the Nile.[25] She was also cast in Steve McQueen's mini-series Small Axe, set in London's West Indian community between the 1960s and 1980s.[26] In the first episode, Mangrove, which premiered on BBC One on 15 November 2020, Wright plays British Black Panther leader Altheia Jones-LeCointe, who, along with eight other Black activists, was arrested and charged with inciting a riot after a peaceful protest in 1970.[27] Wright earned "Best Supporting Actress" nominations for this role, bringing "focussed energy and passion" to her depiction of the real-life Jones-LeCointe, as noted by The New Yorker.[28]
In February 2020, it was announced that Wright had accepted to play twin sisters June and Jennifer Gibbons in the film The Silent Twins, based on the 1986 book of the same name by Marjorie Wallace, with shooting beginning in April. The film was released in September 2022.[29]
Wright returned as Shuri for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which depicts Shuri becoming the new Black Panther following the death of T'Challa; the film marked her first leading role. Released in November 2022, the film was made in honor of Chadwick Boseman, who died from colon cancer in 2020.[30] During the filming of a chase sequence in August 2021, she fractured her shoulder and suffered a concussion following a motorcycle accident, causing production to pause while she recuperated.[30]
Personal life
Wright has opened up about her struggles with depression. She told Vanity Fair in 2018 that when she first experienced depression at the age of 20, she "was in the dark going through so many bad things".[31] Wright credits her Christian faith with helping her overcome the depression, which she discovered after attending a London actors' Bible study meeting.[31] To focus on her recovery and her faith, she turned down film roles.[31] She later explained she "needed to take a break from acting" and "went on a journey to discover my relationship with God, and I became a Christian."[32]
In December 2020, Wright generated backlash for sharing a video from the YouTube channel On The Table on Twitter, in which Tomi Arayomi, a senior leader with the Light London church, questioned the legitimacy of the COVID-19 vaccine and accused China of spreading COVID-19, amongst other controversial statements; the video was later deleted.[33] Wright later clarified, "My intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else."[34][35] She subsequently left social media.[35]
In October 2021, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Wright had parted ways with her U.S. team of representatives due to the response of the video and her alleged promotion of anti-vaccine sentiments on the set of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.[36] Wright returned to social media to deny these claims.[37][38] Wright's Wakanda Forever co-star Angela Bassett stated that she had never heard Wright share anti-vaccine sentiments during filming, while Marvel vice president Nate Moore claimed that she was not sharing her views on set and that her status did not affect production.[30] Later that month, Wright condemned The Hollywood Reporter for an article that included her amongst awards-season prospects with "personal baggage", in which its author Scott Feinberg compared her past comments with men accused of abuse and sexual misconduct.[39] She reiterated that she had already apologised for her comments two years prior and had remained silent on the topic, and accused both the publication and Feinberg of having an "agenda" against her, which she described as "vile" and "disgusting" behaviour.[40]