13 Reasons Why Actor Alisha Boe Almost Played Hannah Baker

Viewers of 13 Reasons Why have come to know actor Alisha Boe for her work as Jessica Davis on the Netflix series, but as she shared in a recent interview, securing roles on television hasn't always been easy.

In an interview with W, Alisha shared that she previously struggled to book roles because "it just wasn’t inclusive then for mixed or ethnically ambiguous or black people, in general." She went on to further explain, saying, "They want to hire you in a family, and there were no mixed-race families on TV at that time. I would be sent out for Hispanic roles, but I don’t look Hispanic. I’d be sent for black roles, but I’m too white, and I’m too white to be black. They’d even send me on Asian roles."

She also touched on how the lack of inclusive roles in Hollywood was the catalyst for her career change. She instead entered in the world of fashion, appearing in print ads as a model. "Identity has always played a really big role in my life,” she said. “I’m a Norwegian Somali girl who got plucked out of her culture and moved to Los Angeles, which doesn’t have much history, and my mom and I don’t have roots in L.A. and I don’t identify as an American. Growing up, I would go through phases where I would straighten my hair because I went to a predominantly white high school where people would look at me and say, ‘Alisha, you’re pretty for a black girl.’ Then I thought being black was wrong and I wanted to take away my blackness."

She revealed that when she did resume acting she first auditioned for the role of Hannah in 13 Reasons Why, and was surprised when they instead asked her to read for the role of Jessica. "When they asked me to audition for Jessica, I disconnected with it," Alisha said. "She’s supposed to be a pretty, popular teenager, and in my head, just from being brainwashed from all these breakdowns growing up, it’s a blonde girl with blue eyes." She praised the show's decision to instead be inclusive, saying, "It was my first time being able to be separated from being someone’s best friend, or being the butt of the joke, or an accessory. It was a dream come true for me. I didn’t expect it to come that fast.”

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