Black in Period Films

Gloria Obianyo has been added to the season 7 of the Outlander series, based on the book series by Diana Gabaldon.  Obianyo will be playing a character named Mercy Woodcock. Mercy Woodcock is a free woman of color in colonial era South Carolina. She is connected to the storyline because of her relationship with Henry Grey, who is the nephew of the beloved character Lord John Grey. She appears in An Echo in the Bone and Written in My Own Heart's Blood. Book Mercy is a self assured woman, whose husband may or may not have died on the battlefield. As she nurses Henry Grey back to health, they fall in love with each other. I'm eager to see how much of Mercy makes it to the series.  Honestly speaking I'm not at all optimistic about how much we'll see of her (for various reasons). Chiefly because she is already a minor character. Secondly, because the character Phaedre was erased from the tv series after a brief appearance, even though her role in the books ...

Lovie Simone has been casted in the Apple TV+ true crime limited series "Manhunt" based on Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer  by James Swanson. The series follows the Lincoln assassination and the resulting aftermath. It will be lead by Tobias Menzies ("Rome, “The Crown,”, “Outlander”) as Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s war secretary and friend. Simone has been casted as Mary Simms, the first Black American to testify on May 25, 1865 during the conspiracy trial for the assassination of President Lincoln. Mary Simms was the former slave of Samuel Mudd, the doctor who treated the leg injury of John Wilkes Booth (to be played by Anthony Boyle) and gave him safe harbor after his crime. Simms remembered her former enslavers dislike for Lincoln and discussed specific conversations during her testimony. Mary Simms' brothers Elzee Eglent,14 year old Milo Simms, and seven other formerly enslaved people also testified in the case so I'm looking forward to their c...

It was recently announced that Jeremy Pope and Laura Harrier will be in Ryan Murphy's upcoming Netflix series 'Hollywood'. Along with Pope and Harrier, actors Samara Weaving, David Corenswet, Patti LuPone, Holland Taylor, and Darren Criss have also joined the cast. Jeremy Pope is playing a character named Archie, while Laura Harrier's character is named Camille. View this post on Instagram “Hollywood” — my new Netflix show co-created with Ian Brennan — begins principal photography this summer. A love letter to the Golden Age of Tinseltown, this straight-to-series production will be my third show for Netflix and I couldn’t be more excited or proud about the work we are doing together. More to come… A post shared by Ryan Murphy (@mrrpmurphy) on Feb 22, 2019 at 9:02am PST With the series being described as "A love letter to the Golden Age of Tinseltown", it is very likely that the s...

Production has begun on Kenneth Branagh's adaption of Agatha Christie's 1937 crime fiction novel, Death on the Nile.  The star-studded novel was announced today via a 20th Century Fox tweet .  Actresses Letitia Wright and Sophie Okonedo have been casted in the production. According to the film's imdB page, Wright will be playing Rosalie Otterbourne a role originated by Olivia Hussey. This will be director Kenneth Branagh's second Agatha Christie adaption, after his 2017 adaption of Murder on the Orient Express .   Death on the Nile will be released on October 9, 2020!

Will Smith will be taking on the role of Harlem crime boss Nicky Barnes in the upcoming Netflix film, The Council. Nicky Barnes was an American crime boss. Barnes was active during the 1970s in New York. Barnes worked along with the Italian-American Mafia to lead a drug trafficking ring. Barnes was arrested in 1978, given a life imprisonment sentence, and eventually became a federal informant. Nicky Barnes on the cover of The New York Times Magazine Official Project Description : “The Council is the never-before-told story of a crime syndicate consisting of seven African-American men who ruled Harlem in the 1970s and early 80s. No ordinary crime syndicate--the men dreamed of a self-sufficient and self-policing African American city-state, funded by revolutionizing the drug game. The movie centers on the Shakespearean court intrigue between The Council’s king, Nicky Barnes, dubbed ‘Mr. Untouchable’ by the New York Times, and all the different members as one unl...

Daveed Diggs to play Frederick Douglass Daveed Diggs will take on the role of legendary abolitionist, Frederick Douglass in Showtime's upcoming limited series. The Blumhouse Television series is based on the National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird by James McBride.  Character Description:  "Diggs will play Frederick Douglass, the well-known orator and leader of the abolitionist movement and Union Civil War effort. Douglass works with Brown and encourages the raid on Harpers Ferry, but finds Brown's planning and leadership style questionable and his approach dangerous, bordering on suicidal." The series will be told from the point of view of Onion (Joshua Johnson-Lionel), "a fictional enslaved boy, who is part of Brown’s motley crew of abolitionist soldiers during the time of Bleeding Kansas, eventually participating in the famous 1859 raid on the Army depot at Harpers Ferry. Brown’s raid failed to initiate the slave revolt he intended, but ...

The hit series Black-ish may be getting another spinoff! This time we will be taken back in time. Set in the 1980’s the prequel spinoff will follow a pre-teen version of Tracee Ellis Ross’ Rainbow Johnson. Young Rainbow will be played by newcomer Arica Himmel. Tika Sumpter (Southside with You, Bessie, Sparkle) will play Rainbow’s mother Alicia, alongside Anders Holm as Rainbow’s father Paul. Rainbow’s parents have previously appeared on Black-ish and were portrayed by Anna Deveare Smith and Beau Bridges. The prospective, series (which does not yet have a name) could be the second spinoff of the black-ish franchise; Freeform’s Grown-ish being the first. The potential series will follow a 12-year-old Bow, who is described as emotionally and intellectually brilliant yet clueless, confused and awkward.  Little actor and actress Ethan William Childress and Mykal-Michelle Harris will play Bow’s siblings Johan and Santamonica. The adult versions of Johan and Santamo...

More of the cast for the upcoming Focus Feature Harriet Tubman biopic has been announced. Actress Deborah Ayorinde Actor Clarke Peters (Underground) Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway (Stompin at the Savoy, The Temptations, What's Love Got to Do with It) Actor Henry Hunter Hall IMdB has him credited as a character named, Walter.  Zackary Momoh (A United Kingdom) The Harriet cast is shaping up nicely. I am excited about the possibilities.  What do you think about the cast update?

I really enjoyed Mike Epps' performance as Satin in Sparkle! He surprised me because I had only seen him do comedy prior to Sparkle. I believe Mike Epps will give another great performance as Richard Pryor. I also believe he has the look. Something else of note: Epps has already played Pryor in Nina (the Nina Simone travesty biopic) I wonder if that played a role in his being cast in Lee Daniel's production. Either way I have confidence in Epps.