I am not a Stan of Game of Thrones book or TV show but I am married to a show fanatic and as a result, I’ve caught a few episodes here and there.
While watching one episode, I was impressed to see that one of the sidekicks to one of the main characters wears a straight up natural curly fro!
Caribbean-Brit , Nathalie Emmanuel, who plays Missandei told the magazine Byrdie that growing up, the school she attended did not allow her to wear her hair in its natural state as it grew out of her head!
“Wearing natural hair wasn’t really allowed when I was in primary school,” she told the magazine, adding that she was told her hair was unsafe. “So my hair was always slicked down or put in braids, sort of hidden away.”
From having to grow up restrained and denied, the 28-year old beauty said today, while she embraces what she was born.
Nonetheless, Emmanuel, whose dad half English and half Saint Lucian and mom is Dominican, says she understands the urge to go straight.
“I think a lot of women with textured hair go through that same journey, where they want to chemically straighten their hair,” she says. “And that’s fine if that’s what makes you happy, but I think many feel trapped by it.”
“I think my hair is the first thing people recognize me for,” the star tells Byrdie of her strands, adding, “and I’m happy about that, because I think we’ve all gotten so used to women straightening and changing their natural hair.”
For the 28-year-old actress, it’s more than just a hairstyle, the author of this piece Amanda Montell writes.
Emmanuel herself didn’t start embracing her fro until she visited her Saint Lucian family for vacation and returned to England, deciding to pick it out.
Though she has a looser hair pattern than most other black women, she tells the mag she is still hopeful that by wearing it that way, the industry will learn to appreciate black natural hair even more.
She says she receives messages from mothers asking her to convince their daughters to follow in her curly footsteps — a challenge that she, too, experienced as a young girl.
Nice! Keep it up, ma! She ‘s got a brand new fan over here!
I am a content creator, social media agency owner, former attorney and publicist, wife and mom. I love working in cafes, wine, food and music festivals, Sunday brunch, home decorating, travel and life.