Oscar-winning actress Regina King collaborated with Academy Award-winning director John Ridley to resuscitate the dynamic life of political trailblazer Shirley Chisholm.
King, who won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in If Beale Street Could Talk, will portray the iconic Black Congresswoman in the Netflix film Shirley, set to debut on March 22, 2024.
Chisholm made history as the first Black woman to be elected to Congress during the political turbulence and upheaval of 1968 — the same year Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and then President Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated and college students incited mass rebellion at the Democratic National Convention.
Regina King shows how Chisolm made history twice
Chisholm made history again four years later when she became the first African American to run for the U.S. presidency and seek the Democratic nomination.
In addition to her starring role, King produced the film with her sister Reina King for Royal Ties Production. King said she felt compelled to bring Chisholm to the screen because too many people are unaware of how much of a game-changer the Brooklyn-born Chisholm was.
“It was always a little disheartening for Reina and [me] to have so many people over the years of our lives not know who Shirley Chisholm was,” King told Harper’s Bazaar. “What she did was so pioneering. She was a true maverick and, you know, we use this term all the time, but she was a true first.”
King added that she, her sister, and the team agreed that dropping the film during an election year would yield a more “impactful” release.
“As a team, we felt that is probably the best way we could possibly honor Shirley: to release her in a space that she created for herself.”
Ridley, who won his Oscar for the original screenplay for 12 Years a Slave, also produced Shirley with the King sisters. Jeff Skoll and Ted Gidlow served as executive producers.
