Tiffany Haddish to play Olympian Florence Griffith Joyner in Game1 biopic
The track and field icon, a childhood hero of Haddish's, was known for her unique tracksuits and long, stylish fingernails.
Actress-comedienne Tiffany Haddish is set to star in and produce a Game1 feature film about the life of late famed Olympics athlete Florence Griffith Joyner.
The iconic track and field star was known for her unique tracksuits and long, stylish six-inch nails. According to Deadline, Haddish has called Joyner one of her childhood heroes.
Like Haddish, Griffith Joyner was born and raised in Los Angeles. She ran track competitively in college for UCLA and debuted at the 1984 Summer Olympics in her proud home city after qualifying four years earlier but not participating due to America’s boycott of the Moscow-based games. She won a silver medal in 1984 and three gold medals in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.
Griffith Joyner was one of the earliest Black female athletes to be featured on a Wheaties box.
Therese Andrews, the executive vice president of production at Game1, will lead the biopic project.
Game1 is a sports-oriented content studio that develops, produces and distributes premium content that creates a bridge between Hollywood and sports-based intellectual property and brands.
Griffith Joyner’s widower, Al Joyner — who was also her coach and is the brother of fellow track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee — will also serve as a producer on the project. According to reports, Haddish has already started training with him in preparation for the role.
“I am so elated to team up with Game1 and Tiffany Haddish on this project,” said Joyner. “Working with Tiffany has been a great pleasure — she is incredibly dedicated, focused and committed to portraying the spirit of Florence accurately, whose legacy of making a difference in the world will live on for generations to come. I hope that this film touches all who see it and inspires people to BE the change the world so desperately needs right now!”
In addition to the biographic film, a documentary about Flo-Jo’s life and a podcast are also in development. She died in her sleep after an epileptic seizure in 1998 at a mere 38 years old.
“I am looking forward to telling Flo-Jo’s story the way it should be told,” said Haddish. “My goal with this film is making sure that younger generations know my ‘she-ro’ Flo-Jo, the fastest woman in the world to this day, existed.”
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