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Amandla Stenberg leads The Hate U Give as Starr Carter, a teenager living in a predominantly black neighborhood but enrolled in a predominantly white prep school. Starr makes an effort to keep those worlds completely separate, behaving a certain way in each place, but when she witnesses the fatal shooting of a childhood friend at the hands of a white police office, Starr comes to the conclusion that enough is enough; she needs to find and embrace her voice, and stand up for what's right, no matter the effect it has on some of her most valued relationships.

Stenberg commands the screen in The Hate U Give, but she's also backed by a powerful supporting ensemble that includes Riverdale star KJ Apa as Starr's boyfriend Chris, Sabrina Carpenter as one of her closest friends at school, Dominique Fishback as one of her closest friends from Garden Heights, and Lamar Johnson as Starr's half-brother. I got the chance to sit down with the four of them to discuss the palpable cast chemistry in the film, personal passions and hobbies well worth sharing, director George Tillman Jr.'s monitor dance and more. You can check it all out in the video interview at the top of this article. And, in case you missed it, click here for my interview with Stenberg and Algee Smith, and click here for my conversation with Tillman Jr. and The Hate U Give author Angie Thomas.

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Image via 20th Century Fox

The Hate U Give gets its nationwide release on October 19th. Be sure to check out Adam Chitwood’s rave review right here.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Hate U Give:

Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black, neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white, prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer.  Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right. THE HATE U GIVE is based on the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller by Angie Thomas and stars Amandla Stenberg as Starr, with Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Issa Rae, KJ Apa, Algee Smith, Sabrina Carpenter, Common and Anthony Mackie.

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Image via 20th Century Fox
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Image via 20th Century Fox

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