Fans already excited about Don Cheadle’s upcoming Miles Davis biopic Kill the Trumpet Player should welcome some new casting news.
Star Trek: Into Darkness star Zoe Saldana has reportedly been cast opposite Cheadle as Frances Davis, the legendary jazz musician’s first wife, who appeared on Davis’ iconic Someday My Prince Will Come album cover.
According to Clutch magazine, “Davis was also the first black woman to join the Paris Opera Ballet and appeared in the original West Side Story, as well as Mr. Wonderful, Porgy & Bess, and Shinbone Alley.”
Ewan McGregor has also joined the cast of the movie, which will mark Cheadle’s directorial debut.
Saldana’s casting in this film will likely receive much less resistance than the decision to give her the role of Nina Simone in an upcoming biopic. Saldana and that film’s producers have been widely criticized for using makeup and prosthetics to make her resemble the darker-skinned singer.
In this case, the resemblance between Davis and Saldana is striking.
What do you think, Grio fam? Does she seem like a good fit for this part?