Amani Starnes
Actor. Creator. SAG-AFTRA
About Amani
Classically trained and experimentally minded, Amani has played roles ranging from Shakespeare to tempera paint-covered dancing monk. She’s worked on stages and studios ranging from the nation’s most lauded regional theatres, television & film, and venues across the globe with directors including Lin Manuel Miranda, Tim Robbins, Jill Solloway, Craig Lucas, and Amy York Rubin. She is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, where she grew up as a semi-professional modern dancer, vocalist, and actress.
Most recently, Amani’s appeared in the forthcoming feature film Test Pattern. She can also be seen on television shows including Amazon’s Transparent and Netflix’s Magic for Humans. She is the creator and star of the hit satirical web series, The United Colors of Amani, which received critical acclaim in publications including Jezebel, IndieWire, and The Washington Post. Amani holds degrees in Theatre and Performance Studies from Yale and Stanford Universities, and she’s continued to hone her skills through training at London’s Method Studio, NYC’s Actors’ Center, and Aquila Morong Studio, Groundlings, and Steppenwolf West in Los Angeles. She was a long time member of the Actors’ Gang in Culver City.
Through filmmaking and theater making, music making and fronting bands, dancing and choreographing, Amani remains dedicated to spearheading creative projects that explore the impact of performance in society and our everyday lives. She continues to curate and sit on panels that address advancing the narratives of marginalized people through entertainment and media. Fluent in Spanish and code switching, she’s a savvy cultural explorer, having traveled the world to exchange ideas, histories, music, dance, recipes, yoga moves, and perspectives.
Happenings
![The Fast and the Furious: A Musical Parody at Dynasty Typewriter]()
![Los Angeles Athletic Club’s Ailey’s Los Angeles: The Dancer As Athlete]()
![New Orleans Film Festival OCTOBER]()
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![New Orleans Film Festival OCTOBER]()
March 17
Illuminate Speakers Series
Footage now available of Amani’s presentation on Black women in storytelling and performance at the hClub in Hollywood.
February 29
The Fast and the Furious: A Musical Parody at Dynasty Typewriter
Come laugh yourself into a diesel powered frenzy as Amani revisits her audience-loved role of Tyrese in the Time Out Magazine recommended Fast and the Furious, A Musical Parody at the iconic comedy theater Dynasty Typewriter.
September 25
Los Angeles Athletic Club’s Ailey’s Los Angeles: The Dancer As Athlete
Amani will be curating and moderating this panel of Los Angeles dance legends as they discuss Alvin Ailey's LA roots, his continued influence on today's modern dance, and the coalescence of dance and athletics.
October 18 & 21
New Orleans Film Festival
Amani will be joining fellow cast members at the New Orleans Film Festival screenings of filmmaker Shatara Michelle Ford’s debut feature Test Pattern.
*This hard hitting drama, in which Amani plays “Nurse Peg,” premiered at the Blackstar Film festival, taking home the Producer’s Award. It won best narrative feature at the New Orleans Festival.*
Illuminate Speakers Series
Footage now available of Amani’s presentation on Black women in storytelling and performance at the hClub in Hollywood.
February 29
The Fast and the Furious: A Musical Parody at Dynasty Typewriter
Come laugh yourself into a diesel powered frenzy as Amani revisits her audience-loved role of Tyrese in the Time Out Magazine recommended Fast and the Furious, A Musical Parody at the iconic comedy theater Dynasty Typewriter.
September 25
Los Angeles Athletic Club’s Ailey’s Los Angeles: The Dancer As Athlete
Amani will be curating and moderating this panel of Los Angeles dance legends as they discuss Alvin Ailey's LA roots, his continued influence on today's modern dance, and the coalescence of dance and athletics.
October 18 & 21
New Orleans Film Festival
Amani will be joining fellow cast members at the New Orleans Film Festival screenings of filmmaker Shatara Michelle Ford’s debut feature Test Pattern.
*This hard hitting drama, in which Amani plays “Nurse Peg,” premiered at the Blackstar Film festival, taking home the Producer’s Award. It won best narrative feature at the New Orleans Festival.*
Press
“Hitchcock Reimagined: Watch Starnes’ Kismet Music Project Flip the Male Gaze in Their Video for ‘Best’”
Spindle Magazine
“A Conversation About Black Women in Comedy That Won't Make You Dumber”
Jezebel
“‘Ask a Slave’ talks race and gender issues in the age of YouTube“
Washington Post
“Laugh So You Don't Cry at This New Web Series on Hollywood Racism”
Jezebel
“She's trying to make it in Hollywood, but what she's uncovering is pretty troublesome.”
Upworthy
“Black Comediennes, Azie Mira Dungey and Amani Starnes, Discuss Lack Of Black Women In Comedy”
Madame Noire
“Indie Spotlight: Mixed Race Actress Displays ‘United Colors Of Amani’”
Tubefilter
Spindle Magazine
“A Conversation About Black Women in Comedy That Won't Make You Dumber”
Jezebel
“‘Ask a Slave’ talks race and gender issues in the age of YouTube“
Washington Post
“Laugh So You Don't Cry at This New Web Series on Hollywood Racism”
Jezebel
“She's trying to make it in Hollywood, but what she's uncovering is pretty troublesome.”
Upworthy
“Black Comediennes, Azie Mira Dungey and Amani Starnes, Discuss Lack Of Black Women In Comedy”
Madame Noire
“Indie Spotlight: Mixed Race Actress Displays ‘United Colors Of Amani’”
Tubefilter
Voiceover
Amani’s Voice:
Theatrical Reel
Manager
Authentic Talent and Literary Management
Ran Aubrey Frazier
+1 310 838 3333
Commercial Talent Agent
OR
Send me an email ︎