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Woman Crush Wednesday
The temperatures are swiftly dropping, and yet your favorite streaming services continue to bring the heat as we rock our way through November and get closer to entering the winter months. But before we rush ahead, we want to take a moment to celebrate our most recent Woman Crush Wednesday selection and the consistently high-quality work she has already put out there at the young age of 15. This actress is clearly already lightyears ahead, putting in the hard work to shine onscreen in the midst of industry legends like Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, and Will Smith, and showing immense promise for plenty more great work to come. So, without further ado, give it up for this week’s WCW, the stupendous Saniyya Sidney!
WHO’S THAT GAL: Saniyya Sidney
WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Sidney portrays tennis legend Venus Williams in the highly-anticipated upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures film King Richard, which premieres in theaters and on HBO Max this Friday, November 19th. Based on the true story of the internationally renowned William sisters and their stunning efforts and success in the world of tennis, this biographical sports-drama revolves around the girls’ father, Richard Williams (Will Smith), who dedicated himself to raising daughter Venus (Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) to become two of the greatest tennis players of all-time, by whatever means necessary. This meant having his daughters practice in the pouring rain, holding intense self-made workout regimens for the young girls, and putting strain on his marriage to Oracene “Brandy” Price (Aunjanue Ellis), among other things. This is a gripping story about a father’s love and passion for his family, but also for the pro-sports playing future he never got to had, and how big ambitions have both great power for positive change and achievement, as well as a capacity for harm and hardships.
Publications like IGN, The Seattle Times, and Forbes are already putting out positive reviews for the film and singing the praises of its leads for their impeccable performances. Make sure to see what all of the hype is about by checking our Sidney and the rest of the cast’s amazing work in King Richard as soon as it drops this week.
WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Sidney’s professional onscreen career began in 2012, when she appeared as Amity in horror short film The Babysitters. 2016 then proved to be a huge year for the actress, as she burst onto the scene and further into the entertainment industry with appearances in TV shows like Roots and American Horror Story: Roanoke as well as in Academy Award-nominated films like biographical drama Hidden Figures and drama Fences. Over the last few years, Sidney has only continued to step up her game, raising the bar with memorable performances as main role Amy Bellafonte in 2019 Fox thriller series The Passage, along with her film roles as Lila in 2018 superhero drama Fast Color and Riley in 2019 comedy special Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History. With this already impressive body of work built up before the actress has even hit age 18, we have no doubt that Sidney has so many more successes coming her way, and we can’t wait to see all that she accomplishes in the years ahead!
WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER AGAIN: Luckily, you won’t have to wait too much longer to see more from Sidney. The actress is being entrusted yet again with a big-name real life young woman to portray onscreen, this time around playing Sasha Obama (daughter of the former US President and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama) in the upcoming Showtime anthology drama series The First Lady. The series, which is set to premiere next year, follows the political and social legacies of various first ladies throughout the years including Michelle Obama (Viola Davis), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson).
For even more from Sidney in the meantime, though, you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram to stay up-to-date on the latest from your incredible WCW.
