Lupita Nyong’o will star in the Trevor Noah biopic “Born a Crime,” portraying the mother of the host of “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah.”
The movie is an adaptation of Noah’s bestselling autobiography “Born a Crime: Stories From a Southern African Childhood.” Noah is producing the project through his Ark Angel Productions alongside Norman Aladjem, Derek Van Pelt and Sanaz Yamin of Mainstay Entertainment along with Nyong’o.
The book was published by Spiegel & Grau in 2016 and has won the James Thurber Prize for American Humor and two NAACP Image Awards. Noah focuses on growing up in post-apartheid South Africa as the son of a white father and black mother who had trouble fitting in.
The book also provides details about his mother, Patricia, who grew up in a hut with 14 occupants and took her son to three churches every Sunday, a prayer meeting on Tuesday, Bible study on Wednesday, and youth church on Thursday.
Nyong’o won an Academy Award for “12 Years a Slave” and plays Nakia in “Black Panther.” She stars in Abe Forsythe’s Australian zombie comedy “Little Monsters” and will produce and star in the movie version of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestseller “Americanah,” which has her “Black Panther” co-star Danai Gurira penning the script.
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Nyong’o is repped by CAA and Del Shaw, while Noah is with CAA, Mainstay Entertainment, and Hansen, Jacobson. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
