Rumours abound that Rihanna is on the verge of landing the leading role in a biopic about legendary performer Josephine Baker.
Reports suggest that the Barbadian almost singer heads a shortlist of candidates to portray the pioneering and often troubled life of the multi-faceted early 20th century star of stage and screen.
Producer Lance W. Reynolds says in a statement, “Rihanna is one of the most talented performers of this millennium and with her unique acting and performing abilities, I have no doubt she will bring Josephine back to life on the big screen.”
The film about the life of Baker, who became infamous for dancing in nothing but a tutu made from bananas in the 1920s, is set for release next year.
With her role in Zouzou (1934), Josephine Baker became the first black American female to star in a major motion picture. As a ‘negro’ performer, she struggled to gain acceptance in her native USA and was forced to travel to France, where her race and risqué performing style were less of an issue. Ultimately she would take up French citizenship and, although she subsequently performed in the US, where her acquired sophistication proved at odds with American audiences’ expectations of a negro performer, she considered France to be her home and died there in 1975 (aged 68). She remains the only American-born woman buried in France to receive full French military honours at her funeral.
Rihanna made her film debut in 2012’s Battleship, which sunk without trace.
