Rumor Report: Lupita Nyong’o being courted for Antoine Fuqua’s SouthpawPosted by Wilson Morales
May 14, 2014
Source: Deadline
With so many stories out there as to what role will recent Academy Award Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) take next, here’s come a new rumor, courtesy of Deadline.
Mike Fleming is reporting that the Oscar winner is being courted by The Weinstein Co. for a supporting role in Antoine Fuqua‘s boxing film, ‘Southpaw.’
Written by Kurt Sutter, the film centers on a fighter who tries to overcome adversity to recapture glory. With Jake Gyllenhaal attached as the male lead, Fleming reports that Rachel McAdams is the studio’s choice for the female lead and Oscar winner Forest Whitaker in talks to play Titus ‘Tick Willis, the former-boxer-now-trainer who tries to guide his fighter back after his world is shattered by the loss of his son. It sends him on a downward spiral and puts his young daughter in a bad spot.
The site reports that Nyong’o is being sought to play the social worker watching out for the kid.
Nyong’o is already being rumored as the female lead for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII. With her recent appearances at the White House and in NYC for The Met Gala, she’s obviously not overseas filming the Star Wars film, but that could change if she’s announced as part of the future cast that the filmmakers have said would be forthcoming. She’s already attached to voice the character Rakcha in the live action Jungle Book film that Jon Favreau will direct for Disney.
The last time Forest Whitaker worked a recent Oscar winner was when he did ‘Winged Creatures’ with Jennifer Hudson, who had won the Oscar for ‘Dreamgirls’ in 2006. That film was on the shelf before finally released in theaters years later.
