Carmen Ejogo Tapped To Play Coretta Scott King In Ava DuVernay’s MLK BiopicPosted by Wilson Morales
April 7, 2014
Source: THR
Carmen Ejogo has been cast to play Coretta Scott King In Ava DuVernay‘s MLK Biopic ‘Selma,’ reports The Hollywood Reporter.
The London native will play opposite David Oyelowo, who’s playing Martin Luther King Jr. Already cast in the film is Tom Wilkinson, who will play President Lyndon B. Johnson. Cinematographer Bradford Young will shoot the film.
Selma details the attempts of black marchers to walk from Selma to Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, in 1965 in order to gain voting rights, only to be beaten back by police. It took the organizers three attempts to make the journey as marchers swelled in numbers each time.
Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King Jr. were married on June 18, 1953, and she was an influential activist during the African-American civil rights movement in the 1960s. She marched with her husband during the Selma Voting Rights Movement.
Interesting enough, Ejogo played Coretta Scott King opposite her husband Jeffrey Wright in the 2001 HBO film Boycott.
Oprah Winfrey and her Harpo production company, Plan B’s Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, and Christian Colson will produce the film. Paramount will distribute the film.
Ejogo was last seen opposite Tyler Perry in ‘Alex Cross,’ and starred in the 2012 remake of ‘Sparkle.’ She will next be seen in ‘The Purge: Anarchy’ later this summer.
