Fola Evans-Akingbola: “This isn’t just about hair”

Fola Evans-Akingbola is, perhaps, best known for her roles in the hit TV shows The Night Agent and Ten Percent. But today it’s a different type of television that the 30-year-old actor and her mother, the anthropologist Gillian Evans, are here to talk about. Going back a few years, Evans-Akingbola decided to spotlight an issue that has affected her since the start of her professional career — hair inequality in the entertainment industry. After she spent hundreds of hours chatting on camera with fellow mixed- race and Black actors — as well as her mother — Untold Stories: Hair on Set was born. Having been nominated for a Bafta for the documentary last year, along with the film’s co-director, Jordan Pitt, Evans-Akingbola highlights not only the physical damage that can occur as a result of improper hair treatment on set, but also the lasting emotional impact of these experiences on Black and mixed-race actors.

To some, the issue of hair in the acting world might seem slightly “superficial”. But when race is a factor, hair is never just hair. That’s why, as well as creating her documentary, Evans-Akingbola is supporting Michelle De Leon — the woman behind World Afro Day — and her mission to get Afro-hair equality written into law as part of the 2010 Equality Act. As for Evans, the University of Manchester senior lecturer has always wanted to shine a positive light on her daughters’ (Evans-Akingbola has an older sister) Yoruba heritage through their curls. It’s something she’s been doing since the Caribbean staff at Evans- Akingbola’s childhood nursery taught her to create cornrows using Barbie dolls. And now Evans-Akingbola and her mother are continuing in their quest to achieve hair equality — both in the entertainment industry and beyond.

Scarlett Coughlan: Fola, what led you to want to make your documentary?

Fola Evans-Akingbola: Even though the initial idea came in 2019, it was actually a lifelong journey to get to realising that I wanted to make it. But the initial impetus was because I’d spent about ten years in the entertainment industry as an actor and, as wonderful as that had been, whenever I would go on set, often they wouldn’t have the right skill sets to do my hair. And I knew that I wasn’t the only person experiencing that. If you speak to any actor with curly or Afro hair, they will have a story for you about their hair not being done well on set. So I wanted to bring that out from the shadows, because it was something that everyone would only speak about among themselves.

Gillian Evans: In the entertainment business, there is a learning journey for Black actresses that they cannot avoid. It’s a very painful one — often traumatic and secret. And sharing stories in circles of suffering, that’s not right. Fola had been aware of this and thought, what if we bring this story into the open, so people can be taken on a learning journey themselves?

SC: And, of course, it’s not just about the hair itself.

FEA: Growing up in a house with an anthropologist, it made me think about how there’s something deeper going on here. This isn’t just about hair. Jordan Pitt really encouraged me to put myself in the documentary and that’s why I wanted my mum to be in it, because we were then able to explore how something as seemingly superficial as having your hair done can actually reveal a much deeper story.

GE: From an anthropological point of view, race is the social significance we ascribe to certain perceived biological differences. And we attribute negative value to those differences. If you then relate that to a beauty standard, it’s a total squandering of beauty. And that has consequences for the beauty industry and the way Black women perceive themselves. That’s catastrophic, as all forms of categorisation like this create segregation between people

This excerpt was taken from HUNGER Issue 34: Fight Back. Stay tuned for the full story.