Have you seen “Shirley” the Netflix film that focuses on the historic presidential run of Shirley Chisholm? Oscar-winner Regina King stars as Chisholm and also serves as producer alongside her sister Reina (who also appears in the film as Chisholm’s sister Murial). Oscar winner Lucas Hedges plays Chisholm’s national student organizer, Robert Gottlieb, and Christina Jackson plays campaign volunteer Barbara Lee, who (decades later) was also elected to Congress.
Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to the United States Congress, and in 1972, she also became the first woman to seek the presidential nomination from a major party.
King said the initial idea of doing “Shirley” came in response to the sheer number of people that the two sisters encountered who’d never heard the name Shirley Chisholm. “After so many times of having that experience, we thought, ‘Wait a minute, this is not right. When you hear just even the last name, Chisholm, you should think Shirley,’” King explained. “We set out to tell her story, and early on we worked with a team of writers, including Sonya Winton, who was very good at giving us even a deeper history lesson on who Shirley was and what she had been doing since she ran for president.”
King has been trying to get this biopic made for over a decade. Now, she can finally share Chisholm’s story with the world.
Written and directed by John Ridley (who also wrote the script for the Oscar-winning film, “12 Years a Slave”), the movie focuses specifically on Chisholm’s 1972 national campaign for President. The film wasn’t about her upbringing, childhood, or family bond. It was quite the opposite. Chisholm’s sister had a lot of animosity towards her, and it showed, which was odd for King’s real sister to play –but she was up for the challenge.
King, was also up for the challenge of playing Shirley. The Oscar-winner listened to interviews, and watched countless videos of the real Chisholm, and worked with a dialect coach to nail her accent and mannerisms.“Chisholm was born in Brooklyn, New York, to immigrant parents and spent many years of her childhood in Barbados.
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