His career was not a smooth one, as he had to take on predominantly white roles to make a living—meaning he had to make his skin lighter in order to appeal to British audiences. Despite this setback, his acting was so great as a tragedian he received appreciation from the majority of his audiences.

In his early days, to get his name out as a Roscius and not just an African, he played slave roles in abolitionist melodramas, villains in tragedies such as Zanga the Moor in The Revenge and his most recognized role: Othello. He also showcased his versatility by acting as Othello and Mungo (a caricature of a black actor, almost considered a “prototype of the blackface minstrel” [Lindfors, 1999]). He duped the audience by being both talented and then feeding into their expectations of him just being a “singing buffoon” (Lindfors, 1999). Aldridge gave incredible depth to each and every one of his roles because he was able to relate most of their struggles to his own life being of African descent. His feats include, being the first actor to revive Titus Andronicus after 128 years by portraying Aaron as a hero instead of a villain, performing Shakespearean roles: Shylock, Richard III, and Macbeth. His talents were displayed by him reciting long speeches from the aforementioned Shakespearean works ranging from tragedy to comedy. He used Hull as his experimenting ground for his first “white” roles as the audience was sympathetic because Wilberforce was still fighting in the House of Commons for the abolition of slavery in the Colonies. Moreover, he was able to play Othello at Covent Garden, a well-regarded London theater. Despite his perfect performance, he received scathing criticism that caused him to practically exile himself to Ireland and Scotland. Nevertheless, he saw extreme success in Russia, resulting in people recognizing him not for his race but his many accolades as Shylock and other roles.