Lifetime reportedly casts roles for Gabby Douglas biopic
theGRIO REPORT - It was only a matter of time before Gabby Douglas' incredible story was made into a movie. Lifetime has decided to greenlight the Olympic gold medalist's incredible career into a TV biopic...
It was only a matter of time before Gabby Douglas‘Â incredible story was made into a movie.
Lifetime has decided to greenlight the Olympic gold medalist’s incredible career into a TV biopic.
Deadline.com reports that actresses Imani Hakim and Sydney Mikayla have been cast to portray Douglas in her early and teen years. Veteran actresses Regina King and S. Epatha Merkeson will play Gabby’s mother and grandmother, respectively.
TheGrio’s 100 | Gabby Douglas, gold medalist with an Olympic-sized smile (VIDEO)
At the 2012 Olympics in London, Douglas became the first African-American gymnast to capture the individual all-around gold medal and the first American to take gold in both the individual and team competitions. Now 17, Douglas recently told USA TODAY Sports’ Kelly Whiteside she is getting “back to the grind” in the gym in preparation for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Her ‘grind’ however, will be without the coach who helped guide her to gold in London – Liang Chow. Douglas decided she was moving to Los Angeles to be with her family and to cut ties with Chow’s gym in Iowa where she had been both living and training.
Since the London Games, Douglas’ popularity has soared. She’s written two books and appeared on the “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, alongside first lady Michelle Obama.
TheGrio | Gabby Douglas, ready for Rio Games (VIDEO)
The Associated Press named her its female athlete of the year in 2012. She has been a fixture on red carpets at awards shows, courtside at the NBA All-Star Game and even made a cameo on “Vampire Diaries.”
[MSNBCMSN video=”http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640″ id=”msnbc16aa80″ w=”640″ h=”360″ launch_id=”50876211″]
Follow theGrio.com’s Sports Editor on Twitter @rantoddj
